Afghanistan's government plans to ask international donors for $50 billion in aid, to fund security and development in the war-torn country.
The Afghan president's senior economic advisor, Ishaq Nadiri, told reporters late Tuesday, leaders plan to make the request at a conference in Paris on June 12. Afghan officials will present a 5,000-page national development strategy, designed to resolve many of the current inefficiencies in the aid process.
Nadiri says Afghanistan needs the money to help rebuild a country that has lost its human, physical and social capital. He says the collapse of Afghanistan was total after more than 25 years of war.
International donors have pledged nearly $25 billion in aid since 2001, when U.S. forces ousted the Taliban-led government.
But so far, the government has received only $15 billion, with about 40 percent of that going back to donor countries in profits and salaries.
Afghanistan remains one of the world's poorest countries and relies heavily on foreign aid. The country is struggling to rebuild amid a growing Taliban insurgency.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
