Pak siphoned off much of 6.6 billion-dollar US aid meant for war on terror

Peshawar, Oct. 5 (ANI): Much of the 6.6 billion-dollar American aid meant to strengthen Pakistan's role in the war on terror never reached the Pakistan Army, ex-Pakistani ambassador to the US, General Mahmud Durrani, has revealed.

Between 2002 and 2008, while al-Qaida regrouped, only 500 million of the 6.6 billion-dollar American aid made it to the Pakistani military.

"The army itself got very little. It went to things like subsidies, which is why everything looked hunky-dory. The military was financing the war on terror out of its own budget," The Nation quoted Durrani, as saying.

Pervez Musharraf's dual role as the chief of staff and president made it easier to siphon the money.

In 2007, over 200 soldiers were trapped by insurgents in the tribal regions and the under-resourced army didn't have a helicopter to rescue them, the paper said.

The limited night vision equipment given to the army was taken away every three months for inventory and returned three weeks later. Equipment was broken, and training was lacking, it added.

Following the breach of accountability, Washington has held back a 1.7 billion-dollars reimbursement under a Coalition Support Fund.

"We don't have a mechanism for tracking the money after we have given it to them," Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Wright said. (ANI)