The US is transferring $1.5 billion originally meant for the Afghan security forces and the Pakistan military to a fund to help pay for construction of the US-Mexican border wall, according to acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

“We reprogrammed $1.5 billion toward the construction of more than 120 miles of border barrier without impacting readiness,” Shanahan said late on Friday.”The funds were culled from a variety of sources, to include unexecuted prior year funds, the suspension of reimbursements to Pakistan, and costs reductions in a series of contracts,” he said.