United States put Tajikistan on list of violators of religious freedom

Almaty. January 5. Silkroadnews - The United States has put a number of countries, including Tajikistan, on the list of violators of religious freedoms, the Tajik Telegraph Agency (TajikTA) reports on Friday.
The United States said Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are among 10 countries “of particular concern” for having engaged in or tolerated violations of religious freedom.
According to the statement the U.S. State Department released on Thursday, Iran, China, North Korea, Myanmar, Eritrea, Sudan and Saudi Arabia will also be included in the list. These are the same states that were on the list last year.
The statement especially marks Pakistan, as Washington is concerned with “serious violations of religious freedom” in this country.
Tension between the US and Pakistan has strengthened over the recent days. The U.S. President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of insufficient cooperation in fight against terrorism. “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing,” Trump wrote.
The U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley stressed that Washington is withholding $255 million in aid from Pakistan because of its failure to cooperate fully in America’s fight against terrorism. Pakistani authorities protest against Washington’s statements.