Pak army says US aid cut will not affect ongoing fight against terror

Islamabad, July 11(ANI): The United States decision to suspended 800 million dollars in military assistance to Pakistan will not affect the ongoing military operations against militants in the country's tribal belt, a Pakistan Defence Forces (PDF) spokesperson has said.

"We have been doing these operations on our own in the tribal areas and we have sufficient resources to continue them," The Nation quoted Major General Athar Abbas, as saying.

"We have achieved success in the past against Al-Qaeda in South Waziristan, Bajur and other tribal regions without any external assistance," he added.e further said that the US had not yet "informed us in writing about the withholding of military assistance".

White House Chief of Staff William Daley had confirmed on Sunday that the Obama administration had held off a third of the two billion dollars in security aid in a show of displeasure over Pakistan's cutback of US military trainers, limits on visa for US personnel and other bilateral irritants.

The US provides about 300 million dollars a year to reimburse Pakistan for deploying over 100,000 troops along the Afghan border to combat militant groups. Other funding covers training and military hardware. (ANI)