US President Donald Trump has defended his administration’s decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars military aid to Pakistan. He said Islamabad did not do things which benefited the national interest of the US.

He said, Islamabad instead helped Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city. In an interview to Fox News, the US President said, a daring helicopter raid by the US killed Laden in 2011. He further said that Washington ended the 1.3 billion US dollars military aid to Pakistan because Islamabad did not do enough against terror groups active on its soil.

The ties between the two countries strained after Trump announced his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hitting out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terrorists killing Americans in Afghanistan.