ISLAMABAD (dpa-AFX) – The announcement by US President Joe Biden that billions of dollars in frozen Afghan currency reserves would be withheld in part for possible compensation for victims of terrorism caused outrage in Afghanistan. Former politicians, academics and representatives of the ruling militant Islamist Taliban expressed their displeasure on Saturday.
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The White House announced on Friday that Afghanistan’s currency reserves of around seven billion dollars (6.14 billion euros) frozen in the United States are to be split in half: a good 3.5 billion dollars would be due to lawsuits from relatives held back by victims of attacks such as September 11, 2001. The rest should be made available for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. The sum is in addition to ongoing US emergency aid. The support should in no way benefit the Taliban government in Kabul.
Senior Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem Wardak called the US plan “theft” on Twitter on Saturday. Other voices from Afghanistan also accused US President Joe Biden on social media of stealing money that Afghans are entitled to. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is catastrophic.
Former Afghan Finance Minister Chalid Pajenda warned on Twitter that should the foreign exchange reserves be spent, the Afghan currency would depreciate. “This would be the greatest and most irreparable blow to the Afghan economy,” he continued. “This basically means Afghans get their own money back as humanitarian aid while the economy stalls,” Afghan political scientist Mohsin Amin tweeted.
The Islamists regained power in Afghanistan last August. The United States and international organizations then turned off the money supply to the country. According to US information, a total of around nine billion dollars in Afghan currency reserves were outside the country at the time – around two billion dollars of which were distributed among other things in Europe, including Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. The money is also due to the financial support for Afghanistan by the USA and the international community over two decades./hes/DP/zb