KABUL – US Pentagon cuts Afghan military fundings worth millions of dollars.

Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has approved the transfer of$1.5 billion to build more than 80 miles (130 km)of barriers on the borderwith Mexico, US officials said on Friday, including taking about $600million from an account meant for Afghan security forces.

The latest move was opposed by congressional Democrats, who also criticizeda March transfer of $1 billion in military money to fund RepublicanPresident Donald Trump’s wall.

“The funds were drawn from a variety of sources, including cost savings,programmatic changes and revised requirements, and therefore will haveminimal impact on force readiness,” Shanahan said in a statement.

Shanahan said that the US military had more than 4,000 service members onthe border, along with 19 aircraft.