White House to Trump: US aid sent to Afghans

KABUL (Pajhwok): The White House says the humanitarian aid sent to Afghanistan after 2021 benefits the Afghan people, not the interim government.

On Tuesday, US President-elect Donald Trump strongly criticised the Biden administration, claiming billions of dollars were being transferred to Afghanistan's caretaker government.

Speaking at a press conference in Florida, Trump said: “It’s not even believable. Billions of dollars, not millions, billions. We pay billions of dollars to essentially the Taliban in Afghanistan. And that’s given by Biden.”

In response, a White House National Security communications sdvisor clarified the humanitarian aid sent to Afghanistan was specifically intended to reach the Afghan people, not the Taliban.

The Voice of America quoted the advisor as explaining: “The aid is systematically organised to ensure it reaches the people of Afghanistan.”

Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has also rejected Trump’s claim, saying: “The reality is that the US has not provided even a single penny in aid; instead, it has frozen the assets of the Afghan people.”

Fitrat added the IEA did not expect any assistance or support from the United States and would never seek it.

On his social media platform, X, he wrote: “The amount the US is referring to is primarily related to expenses for the evacuation and withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, as well as the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans who fled the country with them. Some of it may have also been spent by international organisations in the guise of humanitarian aid.”

sa/mud