Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has approved the transfer of $1.5 billion from Pentagon coffers — including more than $600 million from an Afghan security forces account — to build more than 80 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Pentagon statement released Friday.
“The funds were drawn from a variety of sources, including cost savings, programmatic changes and revised requirements, and therefore will have minimal impact on force readiness,” Shanahan told Reuters in a statement.
Reuters reported that the transfer would include $604 million from Afghan security forces accounts, with the rest coming from Air Force programs, a chemical demilitarization program, a retirement account, and military dollars for Pakistan.
An unnamed U.S. official told the news service that $4.9 billion was appropriated for the security forces for fiscal 2019, and that money was taken from the account as savings in contracts were found.
The United States is in the midst of peace talks with the Taliban to negotiate an end to the nearly 18-year Afghan war, but forces are struggling to maintain territory against the militant group as talks drag on.
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#BREAKING: Pentagon approves transfer of $1.5 billion to Trump border wall from Afghan forces, other accounts https://t.co/IX5uqhe49K pic.twitter.com/gc0W7AHCQx
— The Hill (@thehill) May 10, 2019
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