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US senator claims cash shipments still flowing into Afghanistan despite foreign aid freeze
The $40 million weekly cash transfers to Afghanistan started following the take over of power by the Islamic Emirate in 2021
US Senator Tim Burchett said this week that he believes over $40 million of American taxpayers’ dollars is still going to Afghanistan weekly, despite President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign aid.
Speaking to Breitbart News, the Republican senator said Friday: “We’ve been told that it is, somehow they’re getting it,” he said.
“That’s on the surface that we know about.”
The $40 million weekly cash transfers to Afghanistan were started following the collapse of the former government and the take over of power by the Islamic Emirate.
However, the cash shipments have gone to the United Nations’-led humanitarian assistance program in the country, and the Islamic Emirate has repeatedly, over the years, dismissed claims that they benefit from this money.
In April 2023, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko testified to Congress that the U.S. had made available $8 billion to Afghanistan after the August 2021 withdrawal.
Breitbart News reported however that it is not clear whether the $40 million weekly cash infusions for humanitarian aid are being drawn from the $8 billion and over what time period the $8 billion is meant to last for.
SIGAR has however claimed that the IEA “siphoned or benefited from a considerable amount of humanitarian aid,” by infiltrating United Nations-partnered Non-Governmental Organizations to access their aid budgets; imposing taxes and “security” fees on humanitarian workers; directing aid agencies to serve IEA officials and family members; and taxing Afghan aid recipients at high rates, in some cases amounting to 60 to 100 percent of the aid received.
In December 2023, Burchett however introduced a bill to stop the flow of money to the IEA. The bill passed the US House of Representatives unanimously, but did not gain support in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Last month, Burchett reintroduced his bill, dubbed the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act.
At the time, Burchett said in a statement: “I look forward to working it through both chambers and getting it to President Trump’s desk as quickly as possible.”
If passed, the bill would force the State Department to develop and implement a policy to oppose any foreign aid from going to the Islamic Emirate; it would require a report on any cash assistance programs in Afghanistan and how the US keeps the IEA from accessing that; and it would require a report on the Afghan Fund and on IEA members attached to Da Afghanistan Bank – the country’s central bank.
Speaking to Breitbart News, Burchett said his father “used to have a saying, ‘Old men make decisions and young men die.’”
Tajik authorities say their border guards clashed with militants who crossed into Tajikistan’s Khatlon region from Afghanistan on Tuesday night.
Tajikistan’s State Committee for National Security said in a statement that militants intended to carry out an armed attack on one of the border outposts.
Three militants were killed and two Tajik soldiers died in the clash. From the scene, three firearms—an M-16 rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle—three foreign-made pistols equipped with suppressors, ten hand grenades, one night-vision device, explosives, and other military equipment were seized, according to the committee.
This was the third reported attack from Afghanistan into Tajikistan in the past month, with the previous ones targeting Chinese nationals.
The Islamic Emirate previously said it assured Tajikistan it was ready to tighten border security and conduct joint investigations.
Business
Afghanistan’s first aluminum can factory launched in Herat with $120 million investment
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, laid the foundation stone of the “Pamir” aluminum can production company at the industrial parks of Herat on Thursday.
Afghanistan’s first aluminum can manufacturing plant was officially launched on Thursday in Herat province, marking a significant step toward industrial development and economic self-reliance.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, laid the foundation stone of the “Pamir” aluminum can production company at the industrial parks of Herat on Thursday.
According to officials, the Pamir factory is the first of its kind in Afghanistan and is being established with an investment of $120 million. The project will be built on 16 jeribs of land within Herat’s industrial zones.
Once completed, the factory is expected to create employment opportunities for around 1,700 Afghan citizens. Officials say the project will play a key role in boosting domestic production, reducing reliance on imports, and strengthening the national economy.
Authorities described the launch of the project as a clear sign of growing investment in the industrial sector and ongoing efforts to promote economic self-sufficiency in the country.
Latest News
Medvedev: IEA posed less threat to Russia than western-backed groups
He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”
Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) caused less harm to Russia than Western-backed civic organisations that, he claims, sought to undermine the country’s unity.
In an article published in the Russian journal Rodina, Medvedev wrote that while the IEA had long been designated as a terrorist organisation, its actions did not inflict the same level of damage on Russia as what he described as Western-supported institutions operating under the banner of academic or humanitarian work.
“Let us be honest: the Taliban (IEA) movement, long listed as a terrorist organisation, has caused modern Russia far less damage than all those pseudo-scientific institutions whose aim is to dismantle our country under the guise of aiding the oppressed,” Medvedev stated.
He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”
Medvedev’s remarks come amid a shift in Russia’s official stance toward Afghanistan. In April, Russia’s Supreme Court suspended the ban on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had previously been included on the country’s list of terrorist organisations.
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