NEW DELHI, May 6: India's military on Thursday unveiled the blueprint of a new road it will build in Afghanistan as part of reconstruction efforts. The army's Border Road Organization (BRO) said the 219-kilometre road will connect Afghanistan's crescent-shaped Highway One from the Afghan town of Delaram, near Herat, to the Iranian border.

The BRO's director-general, Lt Gen Ranjit Singh, said work on the 3.7-billion-rupee (84 million dollars) project would start in August and last three years. New Delhi has said the planned road is part of Indian aid package for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

"It will be a difficult project but not the most hazardous," Gen Singh told reporters. Highway One, currently being constructed by a Japanese company, will provide an upgraded link between Kabul and Herat via Kandahar.

Road-building in Afghanistan is hampered by the hundreds of thousands of unmapped mines that litter the country and attacks on workers by suspected Taliban loyalists. The general said 30 Indian paramilitary troopers would provide security, adding that the BRO will also hire local guards. -AFP