Taliban may be getting bulk of US aid sent to Afghanistan
By Leo Shane III
Apr 19, 12:18 PM
Billions in U.S. foreign aid for Afghan civilians may be heading instead directly to the coffers of Taliban leaders thanks to poor oversight of the money, a government watchdog warned lawmakers on Wednesday.
“As I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban,” John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, told members of the House Oversight Committee. “Nor can I assure you that the Taliban are not diverting the money we are sending from the intended recipients, the Afghan people.”
The comments highlight more potentially disastrous fallout nearly two years after the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal of all U.S. military forces from the country. Republicans have sought to make that departure — which included the evacuations of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees but also the deaths of 13 service members in the final days of military operations there — a political liability for President Joe Biden, accusing him of abandoning allies and handing over the country to Taliban extremists.
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/flashpoints/afghanistan/2023/04/19/ig-taliban-may-be-getting-bulk-of-us-aid-sent-to-afghanistan/
