US to halt Pakistan military aid over havens for militants

The United States will suspend most of its security assistance to Pakistan, the State Department said Thursday, signaling the Trump administration’s intent to force the country to eliminate militant safe havens.

The State Department announcement came just days after President Donald Trump lashed out in his first tweet of the new year, saying Pakistan had repaid years of generous U. S. aid with “nothing but lies & deceit,” a claimthat Pakistani leaders labeled “completely incomprehensible.”

Unveiling the new measure in a briefing, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the suspensionwould remain in effect until Pakistan takes “decisive action” against the Taliban and Haqqani network, militant groups blamed for stoking violence in Afghanistan and prolonging a conflict that has become America’s longest war.

“No partnership can survive a country’s harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials,” Nauert said.

Officials acknowledged that the suspension, which follows a previous decision to freeze $255 million in military aid, will have a mostly symbolic effect in the near term. But it is certain to accelerate a downward trajectory in a fragile anti- terror allegiance forged after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Even by the standard of the tumultuous U. S.-Pakistan relationship, the brewing feud is unusually serious, with the potential to trigger a breakdown in ties that could threaten cooperation on intelligence, nuclear safety and the war in Afghanistan.

Also Thursday, the State Department said that it had placed Pakistan on a “watch list” of countries seen as failing to protect religious freedom, a modest step that nevertheless symbol- izes waning U.S. patience.

Moeed Yusuf, a Pakistan scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said Pakistani officials will be bracing for additional punitive measures from Washington but will be unlikely to take significant action against groups with deep ties in Pakistan.

“The problemis that Pakistan ismore likely to call it quits than do what the U.S. wants,” he said.

While Pakistan at times has figured as a valued counterterrorism partner, helping to detain key 9/11 suspects and enabling U.S. drone strikes, it also has been one of the most problematic for American policymakers.

U.S. officials believe Pakistan has allowed the Taliban’s reclusive leadership, along with members of the Haqqani network, an aggressive Taliban offshoot, to shelter within its borders, fueling a war that has claimed over 2,000 American lives and consumed massive U.S. resources over 16 years.

Pakistani leaders deny those claims.