Donors Pledge Billions In Aid For Afghanistan

(12 June 08 - RV) Donors led by the United States today pledged more than $15.54 billion in aid for Afghanistan.

But they said the country must do more to fight corruption and the international assistance must be better coordinated.

At a conference in Paris, Washington promised $10.2 billion to help one of the world's poorest countries deal with an insurgency, poverty, drug trafficking and corruption 6-1/2 years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power.

Nicolas Grona is the Deputy director for Asia at the International Crisis group in Brussels.

He said the main challenges in the country are security issues with Afghanistan’s neighbour, Pakistan…