US again asks Pakistan to take decisive action against Haqqani, Taliban terrorist groups

Washington, January 9: The United States once again slammed Pakistan for providing safe haven to terrorist groups like Haqqani and Taliban and said that Washington was to see Islamabad taking a decisive action against terrorism.

 

Following the suspension of security funding to Islamabad, the director of press operations at the Pentagon Army Col. Rob Manning said that the US wants to see Pakistan take decisive action” against terrorism. However, he also said that US officials stand ready to work with Pakistan for a resolution.

Col. Rob Manning said, “Our expectations are straightforward that Taliban and Haqqani leadership and attack planners should no longer be able to find safe haven or conduct operations from Pakistani soil,” The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 provided up to $900 million for Pakistan in Coalition Support Funds, or CSF, he explained.

The US official also said, “That amount has been suspended, not cancelled or reprogrammed, as we continue to hope that Pakistan will take decisive action against the terrorist and militant groups that we seek.” Manning said to date none of that FY17 funding has been distributed to Pakistan. “The last disbursement, of $550 million in FY16 CSF, was in early 2017,” he noted.

“This suspension is not a permanent cutoff at this time,” he said. “Security funding and pending deliveries will be frozen, but not cancelled or reprogrammed at this time.” Manning also noted that the United States will continue conversations in private with the Pakistani government.

“The United States has conveyed to Pakistan specific and concrete steps that it could take toward these ends,” Manning said, adding, “We stand ready to work together with Pakistan to combat terrorist groups without distinction.”

Earlier, Defence Secretary James Mattis said the US has “had disagreements, strong disagreements on some issues, and we're working those. The specific individual things we're doing are best handled in private, to ensure that we can be most productive and that's what we're working now.” “I think many of you are aware that Pakistan has lost more troops total than all of NATO coalition combined in the fight against ISIS,” he noted.