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Trump administration moves to restore some terminated foreign aid programs, sources say

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Tuesday told reporters that the United States had concerns that WFP funding for Yemen and Afghanistan was benefiting the Houthis and the Islamic Emirate.

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President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to reinstate at least six recently canceled U.S. foreign aid programs for emergency food assistance, six sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The quick reversal of decisions made just days ago underscored the rapid-fire nature of Trump’s cuts to foreign aid. That has led to programs being cut, restored then cut again, disrupting international humanitarian operations.

USAID Acting Deputy Administrator Jeremy Lewin, who has previously been identified as a member of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, asked staff in an internal email to reverse the terminations.

He asked to restore awards to the World Food Programme in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador, five sources familiar with the matter said.

The administration has also resumed four awards to the International Organization for Migration in the Pacific region, two sources familiar with the matter said.

“Sorry for all the back and forth on awards,” Lewin said on Tuesday in the internal email seen by Reuters. “There are a lot of stakeholders and we need to do better about balancing these competing interests — that’s my fault and I take responsibility,” he added.

Reuters reported on Monday that the Trump administration had ended life-saving aid programs for more than a dozen countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Syria, totaling over $1.3 billion.

According to Stand Up For Aid, an advocacy group of current and former U.S. officials, WFP contracts canceled on Lewin’s orders last weekend for Lebanon, Syria, Somalia and Jordan totaled more than $463 million.

Many of the terminated programs had been granted waivers by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio following an initial round of cuts to foreign aid programs. The State Department said those did not reflect a final decision.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about restoring the awards.

The decision to restore some aid followed pressure from inside the administration and from Congress, two sources said.

The World Food Programme said on Monday that the U.S. notified the organization it was eliminating emergency food assistance funding in 14 countries, warning: “If implemented, this could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation.”

The U.S. did not restore aid to Islamic Emirate-ruled Afghanistan and to Yemen, most of which is controlled by Islamist militants of the Iran-backed Houthi movement. Washington has been the largest aid donor to both countries, which have suffered years of devastating war.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Tuesday told reporters that the United States had concerns that WFP funding for Yemen and Afghanistan was benefiting the Houthis and the Islamic Emirate.

“There were a few programs that were cut in other countries that were not meant to be cut that have been rolled back and put into place,” Bruce said, adding that the administration remains committed to foreign aid.

Among the cuts over the weekend were $169.8 million for the WFP in Somalia, covering food assistance, nutrition for malnourished babies and children and humanitarian air support. In Syria, $111 million was cut from WFP food assistance.

The cuts have been the latest piece of the Trump administration’s drive to dismantle USAID, the main U.S. humanitarian aid agency.

The administration has canceled billions of dollars in foreign aid since the Republican president began his second term on January 20 in an overhaul that officials described as marked by chaos and confusion.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats on Tuesday wrote a letter to Rubio regarding plans to restructure the State Department, including by folding in USAID, which they said was “unconstitutional, illegal, unjustified, damaging, and inefficient.”

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Defense Minister stresses importance of religious and modern education in Afghanistan

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Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid, Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has emphasized the importance of acquiring both religious and contemporary knowledge.

Speaking at a madrasa graduation ceremony in Kandahar province, he urged communities to support schools and education, stating: “Do not let your children remain uneducated. Pursue all forms of knowledge, both modern and religious.”

He added that the Islamic Emirate is committed to serving the people, with some forces protecting the borders and others safeguarding lives and property.

Separately, in a voice message to a separate ceremony in Khost, Mullah Tajmir Jawad, First Deputy of the General Directorate of Intelligence, highlighted Afghanistan’s historical role as a center of religious and scholarly learning, influenced by the Transoxiana and Deoband schools of thought.

He noted that today, Afghanistan has tens of thousands of active madrassas, educating a large number of youth, and that the Islamic Emirate gives special attention to both religious and modern sciences.

He said that the Islamic Emirate is also focused on reforming madrasa curricula, improving teaching methods, maintaining discipline, and raising the overall quality of education.

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US delivers second batch of Afghan Black Hawk helicopters to Peru

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The United States has delivered a second batch of UH-60A+ Black Hawk helicopters—previously operated by Afghanistan’s former government forces—to Peru.

The helicopters were part of military equipment relocated to Uzbekistan following the Islamic Emirate’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, when 22 fixed-wing aircraft and 24 helicopters crossed into Uzbek airspace.

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly demanded the return of the aircraft, but Uzbekistan has declined, maintaining that the equipment does not belong to Afghanistan. In February 2025, Uzbekistan transferred seven Afghan Black Hawk helicopters to the United States.

In November 2024, the United States presented Peru with the first batch of nine Sikorsky UH-60A+ Black Hawk multi-role helicopters.

 
 
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Continued aid to Afghanistan vital for regional security: Kazakh president

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Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has emphasized the continuation of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, stating that the ongoing provision of such aid plays an important role in ensuring regional security.

Speaking at the international conference “Peace and Trust” in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, Tokayev described addressing complex humanitarian challenges and the reconstruction of Afghanistan as a necessity.

“To ensure regional security, we consider it essential to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan, including by strengthening international efforts to address complex humanitarian issues and the reconstruction of this country. Kazakhstan remains committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan through humanitarian aid, educational projects, trade development, and food security initiatives,” he said.

Meanwhile, experts believe that sustainable improvement of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan requires broad cooperation from the international community and support for the country’s economic development.

“Investment can be defined as one of the fundamental drivers of the economic cycle, and whenever Afghan traders do not take their money out of the country and instead invest domestically, it naturally leads to greater growth and dynamism in Afghanistan’s economy,” said Abdul Zahoor Modabber, an economic analyst.

As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues, reports by international relief organizations indicate that millions of citizens of the country are in urgent need of food, health, and livelihood assistance.
The reduction in funding for aid organizations, the impacts of climate change, and the return of migrants have increased concerns about a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.

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