Pakistan Receives Around $1.2 Billion From Washington To Fight Insurgency

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan has received $1.18 billion from the United States for counterinsurgency operations.

Syed Waseemuddin, spokesman for the State Bank of Pakistan, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on August 2 that the money was received the previous day.

The money had been withheld after the dispute between the two countries over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in November in a botched U.S. airstrike.

Islamabad subsequently blocked NATO supplies going into Afghanistan.

The reimbursement is another sign of improving ties, coming just days after a new agreement was reached over NATO supply routes.

The move comes as U.S. General John Allen, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, visited Pakistan to discuss security issues with military leaders.

Allen held talks with Pakistan's top military commander, General Ashfaq Kayani.

With reporting by dpa and AFP