No more American pie for Pakistan

Pakistani religious students protest against US President Donald Trump in Lahore on Friday. Pic/AFP

Putting Pakistan on notice, the US yesterday suspended over $1.15 billion in security aid and the delivery of military equipment to it for failing to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network terror groups and dismantle their safe havens.

The suspended amount includes $255 million in Foreign Military Funding (FMF) for the fiscal year 2016 as mandated by the Congress. In addition, the Department of Defence has suspended the entire $900 million of the Coalition Support Funds (CSF) money to Pakistan for the fiscal year 2017 and other unspent money from previous fiscal years.

"Today we can confirm that we are only suspending national security assistance to Pakistan at this time until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network," said state department spokesperson Heather Nauert. The US, she said, will not be delivering military equipment or transfer security-related funds to Pakistan unless it is required by law.

Not linked to Saeed's release
The US yesterday said it is concerned about the release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed from house arrest in Pakistan, but made it clear that this has got nothing to do with the suspension of over $1.1 billion in security assistance to Islamabad. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said, "...we've been very clear about our displeasure with that individual being let go."

$33BN
Money US has provided Pak in aid over the last 15 years

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