WASHINGTON, Feb 14: President George Bush on Monday sent Congress an 82 billion dollars package to fund US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the total for both conflicts to nearly 300 billion dollars.

The supplemental budget request, previously set at 81 billion dollars, includes 600 million dollars in new aid for Asian nations hit by the Dec 26 tsunami, pushing the total US contribution to 950 million dollars.

The request will push funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to nearly 300 billion dollars, a record 105 billion dollars for fiscal year 2005 alone.

The Bush administration plans to use the extra money, most of which is allotted for Iraq, to accelerate the training of Iraqi forces so that they can assume greater responsibility for security and provide an exit strategy for US troops.

The request is expected to be approved by lawmakers, despite their concerns about record federal budget deficits. No funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan operations were included in the 2.57 trillion dollars budget Mr Bush submitted to Congress a week ago. -Reuters