US State Department rejects claims it funds the IEA

Matthew Miller, the spokesperson of the US State Department, has once again emphasized that the US does not provide direct financial aid to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).

In response to a question that US financial aid to Afghanistan may have gone to the wrong people, Miller said at a press conference on Monday night in Washington that “when it comes to US funding of the Taliban [Islamic Emirate], no, we flatly do not fund the Taliban [Islamic Emirate]. Made that clear on a number of occasions.”

Recently the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR) said the State Department did not assess aid to agencies in Afghanistan in accordance with US policies.

However, the US State Department agreed with the report’s findings and said that it will work to scrutinize the country’s aid to Afghanistan.

But the Islamic Emirate rejects any misuse of aid from the international community, including the United States.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Economy has also rejected claims of misuse of humanitarian aid and says that aid is provided to deserving and needy people in a transparent manner and with complete trust.

The United States remains the largest donor to Afghanistan and has provided nearly $18 billion dollars to Afghanistan in the last three years.

In an earlier report, SIGAR stated that during the last three years, US aid implementation partners in Afghanistan had paid at least $10.9 million in taxes and money for water and electricity to the current Afghan government.

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