A new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that at least $293 million in State Department aid disbursed to Afghanistan between March and November 2022 is at “elevated risk” of falling into the hands of the Taliban.
The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) provided incomplete documentation to SIGAR and therefore failed to demonstrate compliance with counterterrorism screening requirements. according to According to the report, Taliban members have been trying to seize US funds meant to provide aid to the Afghan people since the terrorist group took control of the country in August 2021.
“The risk that Taliban-founded NGOs and other organizations that could funnel funds to terrorist groups could benefit from U.S. taxpayer funds underscores the importance of the Department of State complying with its own vetting and document retention requirements,” the report said. “As the U.S. government continues to provide assistance to the Afghan people, it is critical that the Department of State comply with partner vetting requirements designed to prevent the transfer of U.S. taxpayer funds to individuals or entities with ties to terrorism.” (Related: Biden Administration's $100 Million Gender Equality and Democracy Project Undermined by Taliban Interference)
A U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) official told SIGAR that the agency has received reports that more than 1,000 new nongovernmental organizations have registered with the Taliban, many of which have terrorist ties. Before providing funding to groups in Afghanistan, the State Department requires officials to conduct risk assessments, using a variety of public and private information, to gauge the likelihood that potential partners have ties to terrorist organizations.
The State Department told SIGAR that DRL and INL did not retain some of the documents related to these vetting processes and therefore could not provide them to investigators. The report said that failure to follow the State Department's counterterrorism partner vetting protocols “increased the risk” that American tax dollars would end up in the hands of the Taliban.
SIGAR recommended that the Department of State take immediate action to ensure that its subordinate agencies are complying with counterterrorism screening requirements.
Taliban security forces stand guard at an outpost in Zambar area of Sabari district (Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
There is some evidence that taxpayer funds have ended up in the hands of the Taliban since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In May, SIGAR uncovered that $1.3 million was funneled to terrorist groups through the State Department's Afghanistan Weapons Removal and Reduction Agency. The Taliban have also interfered with US humanitarian efforts in the country, with individuals linked to USAID's $102 million Afghanistan “Democracy, Gender and Rights Program” being held by terrorists.
Three years after the US withdrew from Afghanistan, the country is experiencing famine, violations of women's rights, and the proliferation of terrorist organisations such as ISIS and al-Qaida.
“Afghanistan is not back to how it was before 9/11. In many ways it is much worse now. Our disastrous withdrawal has fueled new global enthusiasm for Islamic extremism,” Simone Ledeen, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Biden administration's denial of the real and growing threat from Afghanistan is consistent with its claims (falsely asserted by President Joe Biden in June) that the withdrawal has been successful and that no U.S. troops have been killed under his administration. Warning lights are flashing red.”
meeting Established SIGAR was established in 2008 to monitor government spending in Afghanistan during the war on terrorism and has since evolved into an organization tracking U.S. spending in the country since the withdrawal.
The State Department, DNL and INL did not immediately respond to DCNF's requests for comment.
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