Coalition Support Fund suspension part of security aid cancellation: Pentagon

WASHINGTON: A Pentagon spokesperson on Monday said suspension of security assistance to Pakistan was announced in January 2018 and the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) was a part of it.

Speaking exclusively to Geo.tv, a Pentagon spokesperson addressed recent reports regarding US plans to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan.

“This is not a new decision or a new announcement, but acknowledgement of a July request to reprogramme funds before they expire," he said.

The spokesperson clarified, “The suspension of security assistance to Pakistan was announced in January 2018."

"The Coalition Support Fund (CSF) is part of the security aid that was scrapped and its suspension remains in place,” he asserted.

He further said that the recent reports “distorted the details of the CSF”.

"Several things were taken out of context in the reports," the Pentagon spokesperson upheld.

“Since January, we have consistently engaged with Pakistani military officials at the highest levels, based on both a shared commitment to defeat all terrorist groups that threaten regional stability and security, as well as on a shared vision of a peaceful future for Afghanistan,” the spokesperson said.

“We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network and we continue to call on the country to arrest, expel or bring the Taliban leadership to the negotiating table,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier reports suggested that the US military plans to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan due to Islamabad’s lack of "decisive actions" in support of American strategy in the region.

In response to the reports,  Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said the US administration did not cut off aid to Pakistan, instead it announced to end the CSF that the country has already spent against terrorism.