US proposes 10 billion dollar aid to Afghanistan

Washington, Jan 26 (UNI) The United States has proposed 10.6 billion dollars for military assistance and reconstruction work in Afghanistan on the eve of the NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels which called for international support to the country.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will be present at the Brussels meeting today, will press NATO allies for similar increases.

A senior State Department official said yesterday that two billion dollars of the total would be used as civilian reconstruction aid and 8.6 billion dollars for military assistance to train and equip the Afghan army.

He said the new aid proposal is ''a big increase'', noting that since 2001, the US has provided a total of 14.2 billion dollars in aid, nine billion dollars of which was used for security assistance and 5.2 billion dollars for reconstruction, humanitarian and governance assistance.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the proposal would need approval of the US Congress as part of the Bush administration's 2007 supplemental budget request.

Much of the reconstruction assistance would focus on the building of roads, a key area of need in the country.

UNI