President Joe Biden signed an order Friday to free $7 billion in Afghan assets now frozen in the U.S., splitting the money between humanitarian aid for poverty-stricken Afghanistan and a fund for Sept. 11 victims still seeking relief for the terror attacks that killed thousands and shocked the world.
The case was filed by some of the families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda leaders during the attacks.
Earlier, a number of Western media outlets reported that the US government planned to release half of the $7 billion frozen assets of Afghanistan’s central bank in the country.
The Reuters news agency quoted some sources as saying that the move was aimed at helping the people of Afghanistan.
Reuters reports that the other half of Afghanistan’s money is not currently being released by the United States because of ongoing legal discussions to pay compensation to the families of some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
However, the New York Times quoted some sources as saying that President Joe Biden wanted to pave the way for the payment of $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan dollars to the families of some of the 9/11 victims.
Reuters and the New York Times did not name their sources.
Joe Biden’s government has frozen $7 billion in Afghanistan’s central bank reserves in New York banks since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
A U.S. judge last month gave the Biden administration time to present a plan to determine the fate of the money.
The call came after some members of the US Congress and the United Nations called on the United States to release Afghanistan’s frozen funds to help resolve the country’s ongoing economic crisis.
In addition to the United States, Afghanistan has $2 billion in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and some other countries.
Most of that money is now frozen.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the establishment of a mechanism in various parts of the world to free up Afghanistan’s $9.5 billion frozen assets.
The Taliban have repeatedly called on the United States and other countries to release frozen money from Afghanistan.
The US sanctions bar financial transactions with the Taliban but allow humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
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