WASHINGTON, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Pentagon said on Friday that the United States was withholding 50 million U.S. dollars in payment to Pakistan due to Islamabad's insufficient counterterrorism action.
"The funds could not be released to the government of Pakistan at this time because the Secretary (of Defense Jim Mattis) could not certify that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network per the requirement in the FY 2016 National Defense Authorization Act," said the Pentagon in a statement, referring to a branch of the Afghan Taliban.
The funds being withheld is part of a Pentagon program called Coalition Support Fund, which aims to reimburse U.S. allies and partners for their counterterrorism operations.
In the Fiscal Year 2016, 900 million dollars were marked for Pakistan, among which 550 million dollars had already been reimbursed.
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