US aid effort under fire in Pakistan border area
None
A major US effort to erode support for the Taliban and al-Qaeda by pumping millions of aid dollars into the violence-wracked Afghan border region is being threatened by attacks on aid workers, corruption and layers of bureaucracy.
The Obama administration has pledged to use development aid as a foreign policy tool, and is expected to unveil a new hike in assistance before April. But there are concerns about how the money is being spent in remote valleys too dangerous for foreign aid workers to venture and where residents risk a beheading if they cross the militants. (AP)
