The US Senate has passed a supplementary funding bill worth some $60 billion to finance the conflict in Afghanistan and other key projects including aid to quake-hit Hait. The measure approved late Thursday by a 67-28 margin offers $33 billion to fund President Barack Obama's surge of 30,000 more troops into the Afghan conflict, announced in December. Lawmakers also passed an economic and military aid package worth a total of $349 million for Pakistan, a key ally for Washington in the conflict that is facing its own threats from extremists. Meanwhile, the Afghan forces battled militants in a remote region near the Pakistan border for a sixth day Friday, and officials were trying to confirm reports that a key Pakistani Taliban leader was killed in the fighting. The combat in eastern Afghanistan came as the US military suffered its 1,000th death in the nearly 9-year-old Afghan war, according to an Associated Press count. Hundreds of militants have been trying since Sunday to seize control of the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan province along the Pakistani border, provincial officials said. Villagers who took part in the fighting said they had killed Taliban commander Maulana Fazlullah along with six of his fighters during a strong insurgent attack Wednesday, said Gen. Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, commander for Afghan border police in eastern Afghanistan. Officials said Friday they still had no confirmation that Fazlullah was dead. Fazlullah is a Pakistani Taliban leader who spearheaded the takeover of Pakistan's Swat Valley three years ago, gaining prominence as the “Radio Mullah” for his vehemently anti-Western sermons on local radio. The former mountain resort area fell under Taliban control until Pakistani forces drove them out last year. Pakistani Taliban leaders say Fazlullah was in Nuristan but they believe he is still alive. In Swat, Fazlullah imposed hardline rule including banning music, dancing, television sets, computers and CDs. He strongly opposed education for females and claimed polio vaccines were a conspiracy by Jews and Christians to weaken Muslims. The grim milestone of the 1,000th US military death was reached when NATO reported a service member was killed in the south. A NATO statement did not identify the victim's name or nationality, but US spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said the service member was American. The AP bases its tally on US Defense Department reports of deaths suffered as a direct result of the Afghan conflict, including personnel assigned to units in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Uzbekistan. The latest death was reported just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend in the United States when Americans honor their dead in all the nation's wars. The NATO statement gave no details of the bombing Friday, nor did it specify where the attack occurred. The US Senate also approved a $2.8 billion package for Haiti, including $913 million in economic aid, to support the impoverished Caribbean nation that remains in desperate straits after the January earthquake, which left more than 1.3 million people homeless and claimed up to 300,000 lives.
