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| Insurgents suspected of being from the Haqqani network are presented to the media at the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) headquarters in Kabul on May 30, 2013. |
"The
funds could not be released to the government of Pakistan at this time
because the Secretary has not yet certified that Pakistan has taken
sufficient action against the Haqqani network," Pentagon spokesman Adam
Stump said in a statement, referring to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
At
issue are monies from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) that the United
States provides to countries to offset the costs they encounter for
supporting counterterrorism operations. Pakistan has been the largest
recipient of that aid.
Pakistan has received roughly $14 billion in reimbursements from the fund since 2002, according to the Defense Department.
"This
decision does not reduce the significance of the sacrifices that the
Pakistani military has undertaken over the last two years," Stump said,
while adding the Pentagon continues to be "encouraged" by the actions of
the Pakistani military in the country's tribal regions.
The
Pentagon also provides funds under the program to Croatia, Georgia,
Hungary, Jordan, Poland and Romania for their involvement in operations
in Afghanistan as well as the fight against ISIS.
In
response to the development, the Pakistani Embassy to the United States
maintained that the CSF has led to improved security inside Pakistan in
recent years.
"Over the past
decade, Pakistan has conducted a large number of military operations
that have sequentially dismantled and destroyed terrorist infrastructure
on its side of the international border with Afghanistan," an embassy
spokesman said in a written statement.
The
statement added that Pakistan would "continue to work with its partners
in the long-term effort" to ensure stability in those areas.
The
Haqqani network, which has been linked with the Taliban and al Qaeda,
is based in Waziristan, a tribal area of Pakistan, but also operates
across the border in Afghanistan. It was formally designated a terrorist
organization by the United States in 2012.
The
$300 million sum was the remaining figure designated for Pakistan out
of Congress' 2015 fiscal year authorization of $1 billion to the country
under the CSF program.
Pakistan
has been designated to receive $900 million in CSF funds for the 2016
fiscal year, of which $350 million will be subject to certification from
the defense secretary that Pakistan is taking sufficient action against
the Haqqani network.
Relations
between the United States and Pakistan have been somewhat strained
following the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that resulted in the death of Osama
bin Laden and a US airstrike in May that killed Taliban leader Mullah
Akhtar Mansour in southern Pakistan.