US 'militarising' Afghanistan aid

Aid groups working in Afghanistan have accused the US of trying to "militarise" their work by attaching conditions to aid and grants. A number of aid organisations have told Al Jazeera they have turned down funding from the US government as the money has strings attached to military operations. One such stipulation is "battlefield clean-up", which tasks aid groups with working directly under military reconstruction teams. Anne Richard, of the International Rescue Committee, told Al Jazeera: "Sometimes, military leaders assume that because we are in the same place, we share the same over-arching goals. "Our goal is to help the Afghan people - ideally, they help themselves. The military's goal is to fight in a war and to provide security. "They are motivated by US national interest, we are motivated by humanitarian causes, humanitarian principals."