Afghanistan Warns Bonn Against 'Security Or Development' Choice

Transition Commission Chairman Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (second from left) and Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak (far left) inspect an honor guard during a ceremony to assume security control in the city of Charikar in Parwan Province on December 1.

Afghanistan's finance minister has warned international backers against a perceived choice between funding the country's security and development needs when they gather for a major security conference in Germany on December 5.

Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, speaking from the site of the upcoming conference in Bonn, said that cutting funding for security forces would risk allowing the Taliban to make a comeback while reducing funding for health and education would risk indirectly increasing support for the insurgency.

The foreign ministers and top officials of some 90 countries meet in Bonn to recommit to helping Afghanistan and to discuss funding plans for after the end of 2014, when foreign forces leave the country.

compiled from Reuters reports