PESHAWAR, March 12: US Ambassador Anne Patterson on Wednesday visited Levies force training centre at Shah Kas, Khyber tribal region, and reiterated US government’s commitment to help Pakistan in combating terrorism in the region.

A statement issued here said that Ms Patterson assured strengthening ability of local authorities to maintain law and order in the tribal regions. The US government had committed $5.71 million for the construction and equipping of this training centre for Levies personnel.

Ambassador Patterson also called on NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani at the Governor House Peshawar and attended MoUs signing ceremony, said a handout. Under the MoUs, the US government would provide financial assistance for improving status of women, children and HIV positive patients and provision of safe drinking water in the Fata.

The projects, which have been launched on Wednesday, are Improved Child Health Project and Initiative for Mother and Newborn, which will be implemented at Khyber and Kurram agencies and two Frontier Regions of Kohat and Peshawar.

The third project, which will be mainly focusing on HIV/Aids patients in Fata, will be concentrating on community awareness, voluntary counselling and testing and treatment of seriously transmitted diseases.

The fourth MoU pertained to provision of safe drinking water to the people of the tribal area. Main activities under the health sector projects are provision of ambulances to hospitals, provision of equipment related to mother and child health, training of community midwives and trainings of women healthcare providers in emergency neonate and mother healthcare services in the Fata.

It said $3.25 million would be spent on the Improved Child Health Project during a period of two years while $0.6 million would be spent on the Research Triangle Institute Project for HIV/Aids during a period of one year and $4 million would be spent on the Initiative for Mother and Neonate during two years’ period.

Ambassador Patterson and Governor Ghani reviewed the support managed by the USAID in Fata and other areas of Pakistan including $20 million projects in the health sector.