US Forces in Afghanistan can cross red line and enter Pakistan in hot pursuit: Al Jazeera
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The new US policy towards Pakistan could see an uptick in US drone attacks in Pakistani territory, reports Al Jazeera.
This year, four such attacks have been reported, down markedly from the 132 assaults in 2010, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The possibility of US forces undertaking "hot pursuit" operations into Pakistani territory could also be on the cards, analysts say, previously a marked red line in Pakistan-US relations.
Pakistan is also the fifth largest recipient of US aid, although the amount has dropped in recent years. In 2017, Pakistan is due to receive $742.2m in military and civilian assistance.
The US has, however, been turning the screws, particularly in the form of reimbursements to the country's military under the Coalition Support Fund.
In July, the US withheld $50m in reimbursements to Pakistan, adding to $300m already withheld over allegations that the country had not taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network group.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied offering safe havens to elements of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. The latter was held responsible for several major attacks across Afghanistan, including a truck bombing in the capital Kabul in May that killed more than 80 people and left more than 400 wounded.
In May 2016, then Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack on his vehicle near the town of Noshki in southwestern Pakistan.
Mansour, who was travelling with a Pakistani passport under the name Wali Muhammad, had been returning from the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan.
