Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 23, 2023
A recently published report by a U.S. government watchdog for assistance to Afghanistan says the unrecognized Taliban regime is reaping economic benefits through poorly monitored international aid, which it views as a “revenue stream.”
The latest quarterly report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), covering the period ending July 30, says the Taliban takes credit for and exercises control over most international assistance, “particularly aid from the UN.” It adds that “the UN’s continuing deference to the Taliban…has made the UN vulnerable to Taliban influence.”
The de facto Taliban government seized control of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the U.S.-led international coalition in August 2021. It remains largely unrecognized by the international community and has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, particularly against women and girls. It has barred women from working for assistance organizations and has restricted the ability of such organizations to work in the education sector.
According to the SIGAR report, the United States “remains the largest donor to the Afghan people, having appropriated more than $2.35 billion since the Taliban takeover.”
Citing a report written by the United States Institute for Peace at the request of USAID, the SIGAR report says the Taliban government has replaced civil servants in many key ministries with “Taliban loyalists” and has overseen “a wave of increasing encroachment” on the activity of NGOs.
The USIP wrote that “the Taliban appear to view the UN system as yet another revenue stream” and seek “means of profiting from engagement with the UN.”
“According to multiple UN officials across different agencies,” the SIGAR report states, “the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming.”
The deputy spokesman for the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, denied the allegations in comments quoted by Afghanistan’s Tolo news agency on October 21, saying they “are far from the truth.”
“The Islamic emirate regulates all issues and affairs and everything that is going on in Afghanistan according to the principles and interests of its country,” Karimi said.
Inspector General John Sopko told Congress in April that “SIGAR could not guarantee that U.S. funding intended for impoverished Afghans was not falling into the hands of the Taliban.”