Middle East

Taliban’s Frozen Billions Will Be Split Between 9/11 Families and Afghan Aid, Report Says

PAYBACK TIME

Half the money will go to relatives of people in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and the other half will fund humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.

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Reuters/Carlos Barria

President Joe Biden has decided what to do with the $7 billion of the Afghan central bank’s assets sitting frozen in the U.S. banking system. According to reports, the president will split the money down the middle between 9/11 families in America and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. The billions were frozen after it became clear that the Taliban would seize control of Kabul last year, and the group has urged the U.S. to release all of the funds to help stave off a humanitarian crisis in the nation. But, as first reported by The New York Times on Friday, the Taliban won’t get the money. Biden will sign an executive order later Friday that will designate half the money to humanitarian relief efforts in Afghanistan, and the other $3.5 billion will be used to compensate victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Read it at The New York Times

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