(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Express Tribune on Tuesday quoted Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar saying that Pakistan would withdraw troops from nearly 1,100 security posts near the Afghan border if the aid were suspended.
"The next step would be that the government or the armed forces will pull back the forces from the border areas," he said, adding that the military could not afford to keep its soldiers out in the mountainous border areas.
William Daley, the White House chief of staff, said on Sunday that the US had difficult relations with Pakistan and until "we get through these difficulties" Washington would hold back around 800 million dollars of military aid to Pakistan.
The minister said 300 million dollars of the proposed aid pays for deployment of troops in the troubled tribal areas along the border.
Relations between Pakistan and the US have been strained severely since Osama bin Laden was killed in a raid at the north-western city of Abbottabad on May 2.
Islamabad says the US commando action against the al-Qaeda chief was unilateral and unauthorized, while Washington has questioned Pakistan's will to fight Islamist militancy.
Washington also suspected that bin Laden had the support of some elements in Pakistani intelligence agencies, and has urged a full investigation to know how he lived in the garrison city for about five years without the knowledge of officials.
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