Taliban use force to divert international aid, US watchdog says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Afghanistan's Taliban rulers divert international aid by force and other means, block minority communities from receiving aid and may collude with U.N. officials to seek kickbacks, a U.S. watchdog said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said its findings were based on input from nearly 90 current and former U.S. officials, U.N. officials and others.
The sources included Afghans in Afghanistan, the report said.
"In Afghanistan, SIGAR found that the Taliban use every means at their disposal, including force, to ensure that aid goes where they want it to go, as opposed to where donors intend," the report said.
Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat denied the allegations. He said international aid is distributed independently in Afghanistan and government agencies cooperate "to ensure transparency" and prevent diversion.
SIGAR said an employee of an Afghan aid organization who participated in the report was killed for exposing the diversion of food aid to a Taliban military training camp. But it could not confirm who was responsible.
The U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reuters could not independently confirm the charges.
International donors provided $10.72 billion in aid, including $3.83 billion by the United States, between August 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan and April 2025 when the Trump administration ended most U.S. aid, the report said.
The report said the Taliban used force and regulatory powers among other means to control aid. This included determining which humanitarian groups can operate, directing U.S.-funded aid to favored majority Pashtun communities at the expense of minorities and extorting humanitarian workers.
SIGAR also heard from interviewees allegations that U.N. officials demanded bribes from companies and aid groups for U.N. contracts, the report said.
Taliban officials allegedly "collude with U.N. officials to extort bribes from U.N. contractors and then split the proceeds," the report said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Additional reporting by Saeed Shah in Islamabad; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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