WASHINGTON, Aug 10: The US Senate has pledged millions of dollars of additional aid to Afghanistan to prevent it from slipping further into chaos and disarray, official sources told Dawn on Friday.

The pledges _ made during a recent visit of the Afghan foreign minister to Washington, but not announced _ extend two packages of 550 million dollars each for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and for encouraging US businessmen to invest in Afghanistan.

A US delegation is already on its way to Kabul to explore investment options in the country.

But observers say that both the pledges would be difficult to implement.

The $550 million promises for ISAF stipulates expansion in both the role and strength of the UN-mandated force.

But such an expansion has already been ruled out by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The pledges, however, reflect a growing concern in the US capital that Afghanistan may spin out of control if the security situation continues to deteriorate at the present speed.

At least 30 people were killed and more than 80 wounded on Friday in a blast that ripped through a building near Jalalabad.

The continuing violence has created fresh doubts about the future of the Afghan interim government, particularly President Hamid Karzai, who presides over an uneasy coalition of ethnic Pakhtoon, Tajik and Uzbek forces.

Two months have passed since the Bush administration helped Karzai get elected as president of a new interim government, which replaced a transitional government elected in December for six months.

The new government is supposed to stay in power for two years and hold Afghanistan’s first-ever elections.

But as time passes, this looks more and more difficult. US officials in Washington admit that they are finding it much harder than they had initially expected to restore peace and normality to the country.

The Bush administration officials say they still want to help Afghanistan become an independent nation capable of running its own affairs. But they don’t know how to end this endemic violence first.

The Afghan government suggests bringing more international troops for improving the security situation. Presently, Afghanistan has a 3,500-strong ISAF contingent in Kabul.

Karzai wants the United Nations to allow his government to deploy this force in other Afghan cities as well, besides increasing its strength.

Secretary Rumsfeld dismissed suggestion that US soldiers should also take over security duties in Afghanistan. “Our plate is pretty full. And it would be an inappropriate use of our forces to use them as additional ISAF troops.”

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Carl Levin, and Senator John McCain disagree with Rumsfeld and have urged the Bush administration to give a second thought to its Afghan policy.

“We don’t want to win this war and then lose the peace,” says Levin.

Others say that even sending more international troops will not end the woes of Karzai, who already depends on US soldiers for his personal security.

“The long-term solution to Afghanistan’s security problems,” says State Department’s deputy spokesman, Phil Reeker, “is to help the Afghans train and establish a national army.”

U.S. and other international military experts are already doing that. The first contingent of the Afghan national army passed out last month. This was the first time in more than two decades that a contingent of 600 Afghan troops from various ethnic groups marched together under one flag.

But a much stronger force is needed to restore peace to a country as divided and violent as Afghanistan. Karzai wants between 70,000 and 100,000 troops. The United States has promised to deliver him a national army. But it may take years to train half as many.

MILITARY SUPPORT: The Afghan government will continue to need military support from other nations.