US unfreezes $397 million to ensure Pakistan’s F-16 jets focus on ‘counterterrorism’
In 2019, Pakistan faced accusations of deploying U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets during an aerial skirmish over Kashmir.
The incident raised concerns in Washington about potential violations of agreements restricting the use of U.S.-supplied military equipment to counterterrorism operations.
The Trump administration has released $5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, mostly for security and counternarcotics programs, according to a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters that included only limited humanitarian relief.
President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on January 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe.
The freeze sparked a scramble by U.S. officials and humanitarian organizations for exemptions to keep programs going. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers in late January on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the top U.S. allies in the Middle East, and for life-saving humanitarian aid, including food. The waivers meant those funds should have been allowed to be spent.
Current and former U.S. officials and aid organizations, however, say few humanitarian aid waivers have been approved.
Reuters obtained a list of 243 further exceptions approved as of February 13 totaling $5.3 billion. The list provides the most comprehensive accounting of exempted funds since Trump ordered the aid freeze and reflects the White House’s desire to cut aid for programs it doesn’t consider vital to U.S. national security.
The list identifies programs that will be funded and the U.S. government office managing them.
The vast majority of released funds – more than $4.1 billion – were for programs administered by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military affairs, which oversees arms sales and military assistance to other countries and groups.
Other exemptions were in line with Trump’s immigration crackdown and efforts to halt the flow of illicit narcotics into the U.S., including the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Some of the released funds were for small expenditures — including $604 for Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system to run biometrics registration programs in the Darien Gap, a treacherous 60-mile route linking South and Central America used by U.S.-bound illegal migrants.
