Pakistan says US military aid suspension is ‘counterproductive’
Islamabad — Pakistan has denounced Washington’s decision to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance as "counterproductive", in a carefully worded response to the frustrated Trump administration’s public rebuke over militant safe havens. The US has been threatening for months to cut aid to Islamabad over its failure to crack down on groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which it says operates from bases in Pakistan’s northwest. The rhetoric has raised hackles in Islamabad and fears the row could undermine Pakistan’s support for US operations in Afghanistan. On Thursday, the US state department announced a dramatic freeze in deliveries of military equipment and security funding until Pakistan cracks down on the militants. The announcement ignited some small protests in Pakistan on Friday, including in Chaman, one of the two main crossings on the border with Afghanistan, where several hundred people gathered to chant anti-US slogans. But Paki...
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