US Cancels $300 Million In Aid To Pakistan
By RFE RL
(RFE/RL) — The U.S. military has announced it has made a final decision to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan that had been suspended due to Islamabad’s perceived lack of action against militants.
President Donald Trump suspended the so-called Coalition Support Funds (CSF), along with other aid to Pakistan, at the start of the year.
The Trump administration accuses Islamabad of harboring insurgents who are waging a 17-year-old war in neighboring Afghanistan, a charge Pakistan denies.
“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy the remaining $300 [million] was reprogrammed,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency on September 1.
Faulkner said the Pentagon aimed to spend the $300 million on “other urgent priorities” if approved by Congress.
He said another $500 million in CSF was stripped by Congress from Pakistan earlier this year, to bring the total withheld to $800 million.
