The US Will Help Afghanistan, But Not Hand Over To The Taliban Now In Power

JAKARTA - The United States Congress is likely to finance the United Nations and other agencies to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, but not through the new Taliban-led government.

The United States has been one of Afghanistan's biggest contributors since it invaded the country to topple the Taliban in 2001. It devotes around $130 billion to security, governance, development and humanitarian assistance.

Assistant Democratic congressmen say legislators will almost certainly provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced Afghans, but not to the government, at least for now. "It's going to be difficult to convince members of Congress to do something that appears to support the Taliban government," said a senior Senate Democratic assistant.

He called congressmen reluctant to "support a government that is anathema to us." An aide to a senior Senate Republican voiced similar sentiments. "Republicans will definitely not support providing funding to the Taliban," the assistant said.

He said they don't want to give any money until US citizens and Afghans working for the US can leave Afghanistan.

While there is an understanding that agencies such as the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) need funds, members want strict requirements on how the funds are spent. "We need a clear view of what the aid will look like and how it will flow," he said.

For the 2022 fiscal year starting October 1, Congress set aside $136 million for the Economic Support Fund.

According to the Democratic assistant, the budget is a source of funding for the Afghan government's salaries.

There is also a budget of 52.03 million US dollars (Rp 741 billion) for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

The assistants ruled out the US contribution to the salaries of Afghan civil servants under the Taliban government who handled basic services such as schools, health clinics and hospitals. "I have a hard time imagining that happening, because how are we going to know the funds didn't fall into the wrong hands?" said the Democratic assistant.

The assistant said Congress may provide 144 million to 279 million dollars as set aside annually over the past decade for Afghan humanitarian aid, depending on the needs of UN and other agencies.

The US State Department, as reported by Antara, has not yet commented on whether they are asking for additional funding for Afghanistan.

Sources in the Taliban said the group's co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, would lead the new government announced soon.

The new government's first task was to prevent the economy from collapsing due to drought and the ravages of 20 years of war.

Taliban fighters seized the capital Kabul on August 15.

The US has launched a massive evacuation mission to remove some 124,000 Americans, other foreigners and Afghans who are at risk of Taliban retaliation.