The European Commission said tooday it would hand out €79.5 million to support reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
The money will be used for helping to create a health system, making public-sector reforms, and removing some of the many landmines that kill or maim more than 100 people a month in Afghanistan.
The sum is part of a €400 million aid package the Commission is granting Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004.
Commission spokesman Mr Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe said the funds would help support the weak local public sector. "Capacity building is particularly important given the weakness of the administration," he told a daily news briefing.
"It will allow them to pay for the costs of salaries of civil servants like policemen and teachers".
The Commission, which acts as the executive of the 15-nation European Union, is one of the biggest donors to Afghanistan, and has been involved in the country since the aftermath of a US war against the former Taliban regime in 2001.
In 2002 the Commission provided more than €280 million for rebuilding Afghanistan, including €73 million for humanitarian aid.