WASHINGTON -- The U.S. 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, the Pentagon said Sunday.
The U.S. announced a freeze on aid at the beginning of the year that an official said could be worth almost $2 billion.
The Pentagon has sought to cut aid by $300 million "due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy," Lt. Col. Kone Faulkner said in an email to AFP.
Faulkner said the latest aid cut request was pending Congressional approval.
The announcement came days before U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad to meet new Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Pakistan has fought fierce campaigns against homegrown militant groups, and says it has lost thousands of lives and spent billions of dollars in its long war on extremism.
But U.S. officials accuse Islamabad of ignoring or even collaborating with groups, which they say attack Afghanistan from safe havens along the border between the two countries.
The White House alleges that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and other military bodies have long helped fund and arm the Taliban for ideological reasons, but also to counter rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.
It says a Pakistani crackdown could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the long-running war in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump's predecessor Barack Obama authorized drone strikes in Pakistan and sent U.S. commandos to kill Al-Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad hideout.
But Trump's aggressive language has especially angered Pakistani officials.
"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools," Trump wrote on Twitter at the beginning of the year.
"They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"
Pakistani leaders disputed the $33 billion figure, insisting that around half of the money relates to reimbursements, and the prime minister's office accused Trump of ignoring the great sacrifices the country has made to fight extremism.
In March, a senior U.S. official said that Pakistan has "done the bare minimum to appear responsive to our requests," and concerns over a lack of action by Islamabad against militant groups still persist.
The announcement came weeks after Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan took office.
Khan has repeatedly blamed Pakistan's participation in the U.S. "anti-terror campaign” for the surge in terrorism on home soil over the last decade and has vowed to rebalance Islamabad's relationship with Washington.
He has also shown a willingness to hold talks with militant groups and sought support from religious figures in the run-up to elections last July.
Some analysts warn there may be no real way to pressure Islamabad and say a suspension in aid could see the U.S. lose crucial influence over Pakistan which will instead look to other countries for support, particularly its longtime ally China.
Despite the provocations, the U.S. does not want to completely rupture its relationship with Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment already runs high.
Washington's footprint in Afghanistan is much smaller than it was at the height of the war, but it needs access to Pakistan's supply lines and airspace.
Pakistan is still believed to have the strongest influence over the Taliban, making its cooperation necessary for peace talks.
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