US suspends security assistance to Pak: State Department

Washington: The Trump Administration has decided to suspend all security assistance to Pakistani forces, mainly because of its inability to co-operate with the US in the fight against terrorism, the State Department has said.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said that Pakistan could receive the funding, if it takes decisive action against terrorism.

The suspension would allow the administration, which will freeze the aid payments but not allocate the money elsewhere, to reassess in the coming year, Nauert told reporters.

President Donald Trump in an angry tweet on the New Year day had accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but “lies and deceit” and providing “safe haven” to terrorists in return for USD 33 billion aid over the last 15 years.

Soon after the president’s tweet, the White House had confirmed that the US had suspended its USD 255 million military aid to Pakistan.