The Pentagon says it has suspended $300 milllion in military aid to Pakistan for not doing enough to battle terrorists groups inside its borders.
The announcement comes ahead of an expected trip to Islamabad by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. military’s top officer, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
In January, the Pentagon suspended nearly $1 billion in aid to Pakistan for what Defense Secretary James Mattis and other top officials said at the time was Islamabad’s failure to take on the Haqqani terrorist network.
That network is believed to be holding western hostages, including Kevin King, a U.S. professor from American University in Kabul who was abducted along with an Australian colleague two years ago. King was last seen in a "proof-of-life" video, released last October.
At the time of the January announcement, the Pentagon said Pakistan could earn back some of the cash from the U.S. if it did more to stop the Haqqani network and other terrorist groups.