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SIGAR report says no specific controls in place to ensure Afghan Fund is not misused
In response to a request by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee for information on the oversight and management of the Afghan Fund, which holds $3.5 billion of Afghanistan’s frozen funds, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said there are currently no specific controls in place to ensure funds are not diverted to or misused by the Islamic Emirate.
SIGAR chief John F. Sopko stated that as of September last year, the Fund had made no disbursements for activities intended to benefit the Afghan people. The US “Treasury and State are not currently willing to support a return of funds to DAB (Afghanistan’s central bank),” Sopko’s report read.
SIGAR also stated “the Taliban (IEA) are not part of the Afghan Fund, and robust safeguards have been put in place to prevent [Fund monies] from being used for illicit activity.”
However, the report stated that “the fund’s articles of association do not explicitly refer to the Taliban, and there are currently no specific controls in place to ensure funds are not diverted to or misused by the Taliban.”
SIGAR also stated that the US Treasury has reported that “a compliance program to prevent funds from being provided to sanctioned or criminal individuals, including members of the Taliban, was under development.”
The report also stated that neither the US Treasury nor State Department was currently “willing to support a return of funds to DAB.”
The report however pointed out that one of the Fund’s trustees is also a member of DAB’s governing body, the Supreme Council. “It is not clear whether this constitutes a conflict of interest in the form of competing fiduciary responsibilities. It is also unclear who determines whether a conflict of interest exists or how it is defined,” read the report.
In addition, Sopko reported that the “State was unaware that one of the individuals it selected to be a fiduciary of DAB’s assets was fired from a previous position for misrepresenting his credentials, raising questions about the adequacy of State’s vetting process through which this individual became a co-fiduciary of $3.5 billion of DAB assets.”
The Afghan Fund is a Swiss-based foundation capitalized with $3.5 billion of the approximately $7 billion of Afghan central bank assets deposited in US financial institutions after the former Afghan government collapsed in August 2021.
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly asked the international community to unfreeze Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
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IEA leaders contact Maulana Fazlur Rehman to express condolences over Sheikh Idris’s death
According to a statement issued by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-F), senior leaders of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) contacted JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to express condolences following the killing of prominent religious scholar Sheikh Muhammad Idris in Charsadda.
The statement said that the callers included Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Interior Minister Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.
According to JUI-F media cell, the Afghan leadership expressed sorrow over Sheikh Idris’s death and prayed for his elevated status. They also strongly condemned his killing and said they share the grief of the bereaved family and religious community.
The statement further added that the Islamic Emirate expressed solidarity with JUI-F, religious scholars, and students, and said that the people of Afghanistan share the grief of the Pakistani people over the incident.
Sheikh Idris, a senior member of JUI-F was shot dead by armed motorcyclists in the Utmanzai area of Charsadda on May 5, while he was traveling to a madressah. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.
Hundreds of former U.S. officials are calling on Washington to cancel a reported plan to relocate Afghan refugees from Qatar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In an open letter addressed to the U.S. State Department, more than 600 former civilian and military officials, along with around 100 organizations, urged the administration to stop the proposed transfer. The letter was sent to Marco Rubio.
The signatories argue that the Afghan nationals in question were brought to Qatar by the United States to complete legal immigration procedures after undergoing extensive security vetting. The letter states that while the individuals were cleared for resettlement in the United States, they are now being considered for relocation to Congo, a country for which they were never screened.
“Those individuals were vetted and approved for the United States, not for the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the letter reads.
According to the report, more than 1,100 Afghan allies and their family members are currently being held at Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar under U.S. supervision. Around 800 of them have already completed all security checks and received authorization to travel to the United States. More than half are women and children, and many have remained in transit limbo for over 15 months.
The situation has drawn criticism from former officials and policy observers, who describe the proposed relocation as a betrayal of Afghan allies who supported U.S. missions and risked their lives during the war in Afghanistan. Critics also warn that the move could damage U.S. credibility with future partners.
Several members of the U.S. Congress had previously expressed opposition to the proposal, cautioning that it could significantly undermine trust in the United States among its allies.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former special envoy for Afghanistan, has said that no country should interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, stressing that it is up to Afghans themselves to bring about any change in their country.
In a post on X, Durrani said Afghans should be “left to their own devices” and that they would eventually “find the way out” of their challenges.
However, he warned that instability inside Afghanistan could have negative consequences for neighbouring countries, adding that Afghan leaders and their supporters should take responsibility to address such risks.
Durrani described his remarks as a simple expression of goodwill and best wishes for the Afghan people and their future.
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