US to slash $700 million in aid to Pakistan

A US Congressional panel has frozen $700 million in aid to Pakistan until it gives assurances it is helping fight the spread of homemade bombs in the region, a move one Pakistani senator called unwise and likely to strain ties further.

Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid and the cutback announced is only a small proportion of the billions in civil and military assistance it gets each year. But it could presage even greater cuts.

Calls are growing in the United States to penalise Islamabad for failing to act against militant groups and, at worst, helping them, after the secret US raid on a Pakistan garrison town in which al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in May.

Salim Saifullah, chairman of Pakistan’s Senate foreign relations committee, warned that relations, which are already at a low point, could worsen further following the decision by the US House-Senate panel. “I don’t think this is a wise move. It could hurt ties. There should instead be efforts to increase cooperation. I don’t see any good coming out of this,” Saifullah said.

Homemade bombs, or improvised explosive devices (IEDs), are among militants’ most effective weapons against US and coalition troops in Afghanistan as they struggle to fight militancy.