Pentagon to withhold $300 million in aid to Pakistan: Report

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is reportedly withholding $300 million in military assistance to Pakistan over concerns that the government isn't doing enough to stop militants.

Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump was quoted by the Washington Post as saying Defense Secretary Ashton Carter decided not to certify to Congress that Islamabad was taking sufficient action against the Taliban and the Haqqani network, groups blamed for attacks on U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan.

The decision means Pakistan will not receive the reimbursement funds that were based on continuing operations against the militants on the Pakistani side of the border, Stump said.

It represents the first time the Obama administration has withheld such funding because of the Haqqanis, a source of money considered fundamental to Pakistani military operations, the Post reported.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakariya said Thursday that the country was taking action against all terrorist groups, the state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Zakariya said Pakistan had suffered more than any other country in the war on terror in terms of human and economic costs, Radio Pakistan reported..

The move comes after concerns earlier this year about a proposed $700 million F-16 sale to Pakistan, with U.S. lawmakers questioning Islamabad's track record battling Islamist extremism.