BISHKEK (TCA) — The U.S. government says it is suspending security assistance to Pakistan’s military until it takes “decisive action” against the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that are operating in neighboring Afghanistan, RFE/RL reports.
The expected announcement was made on January 4 by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
Nauert said details were still being worked out and that she was unable to say the value of the assistance being suspended.
“Until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani group — we consider them to be a destabilizing the region and targeting US personnel — the United States will suspend that type of security assistance to Pakistan,” she told a news briefing.
The assistance involved would be related to the Coalition Support Funds, which the United States supplies to Pakistan to as reimbursement for its counterterrorism operations.
She said the move would also involve the suspension of other security assistance, although she did not provide details and said that this portion of aid to Pakistan was under control of the Defense Department.
The White House on January 2 said it was calling on Pakistan to do more to fight terrorism and that it would announce “specific actions” within days to pressure Islamabad.
In a Twitter posting on January 1, President Donald Trump threatened to cut off billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of being a safe haven for extremists operating in Afghanistan.
Trump said the United States has “foolishly” given Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the past 15 years, “and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.”
The U.S. government has already been holding up $255 million in assistance used by Pakistan to buy U.S. military equipment until it takes a tougher line on extremists threatening Afghanistan.
Nauert confirmed that the moves announced on January 4 would be in addition to the $255 million previously suspended.
