Exclusive: Planned $1 billion U.S. aid cut would hit Afghan security force funds: sources

April 5, 2020

By Jonathan Landay, Arshad Mohammed and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A planned $1 billion cut in U.S. aid to Afghanistan would come from funds for Afghan security forces, according to three U.S. sources, a step experts said would undercut both Kabul’s ability to fight the Taliban and its leverage to negotiate a peace deal with them.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the reduction on March 23 and threatened to slash the same amount next year to try...