US refuses to unfreeze Afghan funds over concerns of it being redirected to terror groups

Amid the political and economic turmoil in Afghanistan, the United States has expressed its intention of not releasing billions of dollars of Afghan government assets which are held by the nation's central bank. Citing worries that the money would fall into the hands of terrorists in wake of the death of Al Qaeda's head who was hiding in the Afghan capital, Tom West, the special representative of the State Department for Afghanistan, stated, "We do not see recapitalization of the Afghan central bank as a near-term option", CNN reported. He further said, “The Taliban's sheltering of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups." 

This decision of not releasing the Afghan funds came nearly six months after US President Joe Biden inked an executive order enabling the $7 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan's central bank to eventually be distributed within the nation and possibly fund legal actions brought by families of September 11 terrorist attack victims, as per the CNN report. Notably, after the democratically elected government in Afghanistan collapsed last year and the Taliban seized power, the funds were blocked by the US administration. 

Afghan funds will not be released: US

In addition to this, a National Security Council spokesperson, who also noted that the mechanism for releasing the funds is being developed, claimed that "there has been no change" in initiatives to get the funds to the Afghan people. However, the spokesperson noted that Zawahiri's presence in Kabul has a direct impact on how the Biden administration approaches the Taliban. 

The spokesperson also highlighted the fact that given Afghanistan's continuing economic and humanitarian crisis, they have been working with their international counterparts to support the "establishment of an international trust fund with robust safeguards to enable the use of Afghan reserves for the benefit of the Afghan people."  

"We have made considerable progress and our focus right now is on supporting the establishment of this fund... Our approach to the future of these assets will continue to reflect that reality," the spokesperson was quoted by CNN as saying.  

Apart from this, in the month of July, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interim interior minister for Afghanistan, urged US President Biden to immediately unblock the $7 billion in assets held by the Afghan central bank. During a speech on July 16, Haqqani remarked, “Did they achieve anything over the past 20 years?" 

Speaking to Afghans in the southern province of Khost, the self-appointed Talibani administrative official stated that a purportedly "inclusive government" would take place in his nation, now that "the western ideology" had been eradicated from Afghan soil, according to a Tolo News report.  

(Image: AP)