KABUL, Oct 30, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided 5 million U.S. dollars to help war-affected people in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan, a spokesman of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said Monday.
"The USAID contributed 5 million U.S. dollars to bolster development and humanitarian activities for people displaced by the recent fighting in Kandahar especially in Panjwai and Jalai districts," Aleem Siddique told a press briefing.
He said the fund would be spent in collaboration with the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development to implement 64 humanitarian and development projects.
These projects would be completed within one year by October 2007, he added.
Civilians in Kandahar especially in Panjwai and Jalai have been seriously affected by Taliban-linked violence and NATO military operations.
A NATO airstrike killed at least 60 civilians in a village of Panjwai on Oct. 24, according to locals, while the military said 12 civilians were confirmed to be killed in the incident.