The Pentagon said Afghanistan had requested the bases be built for the Afghan army's Central Corps in Kabul and four regional commands planned in Gardez, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif.

"The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as one billion dollars," the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agencysaid in a statement.

It said the project would be carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The description provided to Congress indicated that plans call for building a large walled base in Kabul with training barracks, medical and dining facilities and buildings to store vehicles and supplies.

The other bases also would have training barracks, dining facilities, medical clinics, and communications centers as well as basic utilities -- power, water, and sewage tretment plants.

The Pentagon did not say where the money would come from for the project, or how soon construction might begin.

"The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that we hope to help become an important force for political stability and economic progress in South Asia," the DSCA said.

It said Afghanistan "needs these services to support the recruitment, training, bed-down, and operational effectiveness of a military capability to establish security and stability throughout Afghanistan, and to promote the stability and development of a friendly, democratic central government."

The creation of the Afghan National Army has been the centerpiece of US efforts to gradually offset the power of regional warlords.

Only about 13,500 Afghan army troops have been trained and fielded so far, but plans call for a force of some 70,000 troops in five years.

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