US to offer $100 million in aid to displaced civilians

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to announce the release of $100 million dollars in aid to more than two million civilians forced to flee the northwest of Pakistan in the face of a government military offensive against the Taliban.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday unveiled more than 100 million dollars in emergency aid for civilians fleeing a US-backed military offensive against Taliban militants in Pakistan."We're doing this because the future of Pakistan is extremely important to the United States," Clinton told a press conference at the White House. "The advance of extremism is a threat to our security."But the top US diplomat said she sensed a "national mood change" against the Taliban in Pakistan, and heaped praise on the military offensive against the extremists."There is a real national mood change on the part of the Pakistani people that we are watching and obviously are encouraged by," Clinton said."This is a potential direct threat to their way of life in Pakistan."A total of 110 million dollars in aid from the State Department and Pentagon will be sent to Pakistan to help ease the plight of two million people who have fled the fighting in northwest Pakistan, a White House statement said.The funds will be used to deliver tents, halal meats, water trucks, generators and other supplies, Clinton said, adding some of the money would be used to buy Pakistani wheat to boost the local economy."Pakistan is facing a major humanitarian crisis," she said. "Approximately two million people have fled their homes."Pakistan can succeed in coping with the crisis but only if the international community and the United States do its share, the chief US diplomat said.