US give Pakistan $30 million to fight drugs, improve border security

The United States to provide Pakistan with US$30 million in extra funding this year to fight drugs and improve security along its border with Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday.

The money will be used for vehicles, communications and surveillance equipment for Pakistan's Frontier Corps, expansion of its Anti-Narcotics Force, and for building bridges to increase law enforcers' access to remote border areas, the embassy said in a statement.

The funds supplement US$30.9 million already allocated this year.

Pakistan, a strong ally of the United States in its war on terrorism, has deployed 80,000 troops at its western border. It denies allegations it allows Taliban militants to shelter on its soil for attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is also the world's top heroin producer, and Pakistan struggles to combat the smuggling of drugs across the long and rugged border, reports the AP.

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