US to divert frozen Afghan assets for humanitarian assistance
The administration of US President Joe Biden has decided to use part of the frozen assets of Afghanistan’s central bank in the United States to extend humanitarian assistance for the Afghan people.
Biden signed an executive order on Friday in view of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The order will block the property of Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB, held in the US by US financial institutions and require them to transfer the property into an account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
DAB assets worth 7 billion dollars have been held in the US since the Taliban retook power last year.
Biden administration officials say half of the assets, or 3.5 billion dollars, will be used for the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan’s future.
The officials say a trust fund will be established within several months and that consultation will be held to decide how to use the money.
The administration says the remaining sum of the frozen assets, or 3.5 billion dollars, will be kept in the US so that it can be used for payouts for the victims of the September 11 attacks and their relatives who are seeking compensation from the Taliban in federal court.
The Taliban has lashed out at the US move. Taliban spokesperson Mohammad Naeem tweeted on Friday that stealing the blocked funds of Afghanistan by the United States and its seizure of those funds shows the lowest level of humanity of a country and a nation.
