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Clinton to detail humanitarian aid to Pakistan

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning to detail plans for US humanitarian aid to Pakistan, part of the administration's new strategy for countering the appeal of Taliban militants in the nuclear-armed American ally.

  • AP
  • Published: 19:13 May 19, 2009
  • Gulf News

Washington: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning to detail plans for US humanitarian aid to Pakistan, part of the administration's new strategy for countering the appeal of Taliban militants in the nuclear-armed American ally.

Clinton will announce the aid package later on Tuesday at the White House. An administration official said the aid package would amount to about $100 million to help Pakistani refugees who have fled fighting in the country's Swat Valley and are living in squalid tent cities.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid details had not been announced.

Pakistan's army is engaged in major combat in Swat, in response to attempts by armed Islamic militants to solidify their hold on the region. Pakistan reluctantly undertook the offensive under pressure from the United States after Taliban fighters had taken positions within 100 kilometres of the capital, Islamabad.

The military says more than 1,000 insurgents have so far been killed in the fighting, which has forced nearly 1.5 million people to flee from the area.

President Barack Obama has spoken of the need to improve the lives of people in both Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of the administration's new plan for linking the US fight against the resurgent Taliban in the two countries.

The Taliban has provided sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden and his top Al Qaida leadership along the lawless and mountainous border shared by Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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