Re: Strategic Area of Afghanistan (the north)
Look at this map of Afghanistan:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/af.html
To secure a gas pipeline route through Afghanistan to either China or Pakistan requires only the northern 10 percent to be controlled by The Northern Alliance. This pipeline would feed gas from the 1 trillion cubic meter reserves in Turkmenistan to Pakistan, or China (as preferred by Iran). The extra risk here is that such a pipeline would skirt close to the Kashmir border just before it reaches China.
But this would open up the market in the region, where before there was a lot of pussyfooting about where the pipeline should go.