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US allocated billions for war in Afghanistan: Officials

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The administration of US President Barack Obama has allocated billion of dollars in its recently proposed budget for military operations across war-weary Afghanistan.

US officials say “overseas contingency operations” funds are separate from the main Pentagon budget and have financed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Defense Department’s proposed budget calls for nearly USD 80 billion in war funding for fiscal year 2015.

Senior officials in Washington say they spend more than six billion dollars of taxpayers’ money in Afghanistan every month.

Figures show the money is spent on US soldiers, military operations, as well as civilian and military contractors.

However, international bodies and charity groups say Afghanistan still remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Latest funding for the war comes as senior US officials say Washington has no plan to withdraw all of its troops from Afghanistan even after the 2014 pullout deadline.

Washington and its Western allies had promised to withdraw all combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014. However, it has been locked in tricky negotiations with Kabul over a strategic partnership beyond 2014.

Many Afghans believe that the US is envisaging permanent military bases there. Afghan political groups have warned that things will get worse should the US set up permanent military bases in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Karzai has recently said he saw no good in more than a decade-long American presence in Afghanistan, noting that the US-led NATO mission has failed to bring security.

The president also warned that he will not allow continued foreign presence if it means more bombs and civilian killings.

Thousands of Afghan civilians, including a large number of women and children, have been killed during night raids by foreign forces and CIA-run assassination drone strikes.

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