Taliban officials denounced Saturday claims that the United States could regain custody of Afghanistan’s frozen central bank funds, warning that any such action would be “unacceptable.”
The Taliban-led Ministry of Economy issued the warning in response to the latest quarterly report released to the U.S. Congress on Friday stating that the government in Kabul is not recognized by Washington and has been subjected to economic sanctions.
In August 2021, when Taliban insurgents retook control of the country just days before the withdrawal of all American and NATO troops, then-President Joe Biden froze about $7 billion in assets that were held in the U.S. by the Afghan central bank. Additionally, European countries froze around $2 billion.
Washington subsequently transferred half of the frozen funds, amounting to $3.5 billion, to a newly established “Afghan Fund” in Switzerland. That fund is intended to support humanitarian assistance in impoverished Afghanistan while ensuring that the Taliban cannot access the money, but no payments have since been released.
The remaining $3.5 billion was retained in the U.S. to fund potential compensation for ongoing court cases against the Taliban, brought by families of the September 11, 2001, attack victims.
“With accrued interest, the fund has now grown to nearly $4 billion,” said the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) in its report to Congress on Friday. “As part of the current review of foreign assistance, the administration and the Congress may want to examine returning these funds to the custody and control of the U.S. government,” it added.
“The Taliban want these funds even though they have no legal right to them since they are not recognized by the United States as the government of Afghanistan, are on the U.S. Specially Designated Global Terrorist list, and are under U.S. and U.N. sanctions,” the SIGAR stressed.
The agency referred to President Donald Trump’s order issued after his inauguration last month, which suspended almost all foreign aid for three months pending a review to determine what aligns with his “America First” policy.
The de facto Afghan ministry dismissed the objections, saying freezing central bank assets has undermined their national economy. It renewed Kabul’s call for the international community to return the more than $9 billion to the central bank, saying it belongs to the Afghan nation and can play a critical role in ensuring monetary and economic stability.
“Any action by the United States regarding the allocation, use, or transfer of these reserves is unacceptable,” the Taliban statement warned.
The SIGAR report argued that Washington has spent more than $3.7 billion in Afghanistan since withdrawing its troops from the country, saying most of that money went to U.N. and partner agencies delivering humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan. It noted that another $1.2 billion remains available in the pipeline for possible disbursement.
However, the Taliban disputed the assertions and claimed that U.S. spending had no significant impact on the Afghan economy.
SIGAR said that the United States remains the largest donor to Afghanistan, where millions of people need humanitarian aid, according to U.N. assessments.
“While this assistance may have staved off famine in the face of economic collapse, it has not dissuaded the Taliban from taking U.S. citizens hostage, dismantling the rights of women and girls, censoring the media, allowing the country to become a terrorist safe haven, and targeting former Afghan government officials,” the U.S. agency wrote in the report.
Since retaking power three-and-a-half years ago, the hard-line Taliban have banned girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and suspended female university education across Afghanistan. Women are prohibited from visiting public places, such as gyms and parks. They must wear face coverings in public and have a chaperone for road or air travel.
The Taliban defend their policies, saying they are aligned with Islamic law, or Sharia, and Afghan culture, dismissing international criticism as an interference in the country’s internal affairs.
The sweeping restrictions on Afghan women and other human rights concerns, as well as the Taliban’s alleged ties with terrorist groups, have deterred the international community from granting legitimacy to the de facto Afghan government.
