[Islamabad] According to a new report from the leading U.S. agency on Afghanistan reconstruction, $293 million in U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan might have ended up in the hands of the Taliban.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report noted that only three of the five Afghan bureaus receiving funds from the U.S. provided the required documentation. Neither the Bureau of Democracy nor the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs were able to prove their compliance with U.S. regulations.
“The State Department must identify the actual beneficiaries of this assistance to prevent it from being diverted to the Taliban or other sanctioned entities,” the report stated. It warned that “the Taliban may have exploited U.S. humanitarian aid, including the establishment of institutions to divert funds to achieve their goals.”
SIGAR urged the State Department to trace the path of aid and obtain documentation on the beneficiaries. The report noted that the State Department agreed with the findings and “recognized the need for an investigation.”
Following the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Washington has sent the country a total of $2.8 billion in humanitarian aid.
Afghan Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid strongly refuted the claims that the Taliban had embezzled any U.S. aid.
“Donor countries, including the United States, have established their standard procedures and policies for distributing aid,” he told The Media Line. “Any aid received from these countries is handed over to NGOs managed by the respective donor nations. These NGOs distribute aid through their policies. The Islamic Emirate does not interfere with this integrated system.”
Mujahid said that Afghanistan’s Ministry of Commerce supervises the distribution process to prevent any wrongdoing.
He urged the international community not to use humanitarian aid as a means of exerting pressure on Afghanistan.
The report about potential misuse of aid comes alongside ongoing concerns about the Afghan reappropriation of weapons left behind during the U.S. withdrawal. Geopolitical analysts say that the chaotic withdrawal worsened regional instability and that embezzled funds and repurposed weapons are being used by organizations like the Islamic State group - Khorasan Province (ISKP) and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Using U.S. funds and weapons, those groups have fueled a surge in cross-border terrorism, especially in Pakistan.
Islamabad-based strategic defense analyst Brig. Gen. (ret.) Shahid Jagir said that groups like ISKP and TTP were able to flourish in Afghanistan because of the lack of an effective security apparatus. “The current Afghan government is reluctant to control these groups, as the groups are their former allies during the Jihad era,” he said.
The groups are making use of some $7 billion of U.S. weapons and equipment left behind in Afghanistan, he added.
Dr. Maria Sultan, the Islamabad-based chair of the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute University, emphasized the potential long-term consequences of misused funds and weapons.
“The issue extends far beyond missing funds from U.S. aid agencies to the use of American weapons in terrorist attacks,” she said. “Today, these weapons are being used in Pakistan. Tomorrow, they could be used against the US. This scenario wouldn’t just echo Vietnam but could resemble another Iraq. The pressing question is whether the U.S. is prepared for another 9/11.”
She said that Afghanistan has been plunged into a state of perpetual crisis due to the international community’s failure to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government.
“The Taliban-led Afghan government views regional terrorism and groups like TTP and ISKP as opportunities to solicit favor and engagement with regional and global actors,” she added.
She said that the already unstable situation has been exacerbated by the presence of weapons left behind by the U.S.
“The problems with U.S assistance come from political leaders’ arrogance, poor staff vetting, lack of transparency, and inadequate security awareness in host countries,” she said. commitments under international law, specifically the Chemical Weapons Convention, to which it is a signatory.”
Irina Tsukerman, a New York-based national security expert with a focus on global terrorism and extremism, told The Media Line that U.S. agencies providing aid to Afghanistan have effectively empowered local extremists.
“The problems with U.S. assistance come from political leaders’ arrogance, poor staff vetting, lack of transparency, and inadequate security awareness in host countries,” she said.
She noted that unrestricted U.S. aid to Afghanistan might end up bolstering Taliban supporters, potentially leading to the spread of extremism across Southeast Asia.