Japan pledges $5b aid for troubled Afghanistan

Tokyo: Japan said on Tuesday it would give up to $5 billion (Dh18.4 billion) in new aid to Afghanistan over the next five years to help rebuild the war-torn nation.

The announcement came just ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Tokyo on Friday and Saturday.

"We will offer aid of up to $5 billion over five years," the government said in a statement after the cabinet of centre-left Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama approved the package.

Since coming to power in September, the Hatoyama government has said it will end a naval refuelling mission that has supported the US-led campaign in Afghanistan, but instead promised to step up aid.

The $5 billion are likely to be disbursed through international organisations such as the UN Development Programme, said media reports.

The main pillar is assistance, such as job training, to help former Taliban soldiers return to mainstream society, and the redevelopment of the capital city of Kabul.

The aid will also include salary payments for police officers and teaching programmes on rice farming and agricultural development.

Practical system

"We will provide our maximum support for the improvement of Afghanistan's capability to maintain security," the government said. "It is necessary to set up a practical system in which former soldiers can return to society."

Hatoyama confirmed Japan would not deploy troops to Afghanistan under the programme, as his left-leaning coalition partners have voiced strong opposition to a dispatch of the Self-Defence Forces to the war-torn state.

Under its post-war pacifist constitution, Japan is barred from deploying troops overseas for combat, but Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa had recently weighed sending military personnel to the region for aid missions.

Meanwhile, television footage broadcast on Monday showed insurgents handling what appears to be US ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan that US forces left last month following a deadly firefight that killed eight troops.

The US military said the forces that left the area said they removed and accounted for their equipment.

The Al Jazeera video showed insurgents handling weapons, including anti-personnel mines with US markings on them, but it was unclear when the video had been filmed.

The television station reported that insurgents said they seized the weapons from two US remote outposts in Nuristan province.