Imran fires back after criticism from Trump

Pakistan summons US envoy to protest

FE Team | Published: November 20, 2018 23:37:15

ISLAMABAD, Nov 20 (Agencies): Pakistan's prime minister fired back on Monday after President Donald Trump accused the country of harboring Osama bin Laden despite getting billions of dollars in American aid.
Imran Khan tweeted that Pakistan had suffered 75,000 casualties and lost $123 billion in the "US War on Terror," despite the fact that no Pakistanis were involved in the Sept 11 attacks. He said the US has only provided a "miniscule" $20 billion in aid.
US commandos killed bin Laden in a May 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he had been living in seclusion in a house near a well-known military academy.
Pakistan denies it knew bin Laden's whereabouts prior to the raid, which was carried out without its knowledge. It later arrested Dr Shakil Afridi, who had run a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to help the CIA confirm bin Laden's whereabouts.
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Trump said "everybody in Pakistan" knew bin Laden was there and no one said anything despite the US providing $1.3 billion a year in aid. Trump said he had cut off the aid "because they don't do anything for us, they don't do a damn thing for us."
He doubled down in a tweet on Monday, writing: "We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us (bin Laden) was living there. Fools!"
The US and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to Islamic extremists and of harboring leaders of the Afghan Taliban.
Pakistan denies those allegations, pointing to the heavy toll of its war against the Pakistani Taliban, a separate militant group that carries out attacks inside Pakistan.
Khan said Pakistan's tribal areas along the border have been devastated by years of war, with millions uprooted from their homes.
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Tuesday summoned the US Chargé d'Affaires in Islamabad to protest against remarks made by President Donald Trump who has criticized Pakistan's role in fighting terrorism fight and the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Trump's comments over the last few days have angered Pakistan, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, who on Monday hit back at Trump by saying on Twitter that few allies have sacrificed or helped the United States as much as Pakistan in its war on terror.
The friction threatens to further worsen already fragile relations between Islamabad and Washington, on-off allies who have repeatedly clashed about the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan's alleged support for Islamist militants.