Watchdog Report: Audit Finds State Department ‘Didn’t Keep Tabs’ on $293 Million to Afghanistan

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Taliban

A new report by a government watchdog agency warns that hundreds of millions of dollars likely has been given directly to the Taliban by the United States.

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An audit by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found that two State Department bureaus funding projects in the country couldn’t prove that they had complied with requirements for vetting aid recipients.

“There is an increased risk that terrorist and terrorist-affiliated individuals and entities may have illegally benefited from State (Department) spending in Afghanistan,” the report said.

Specifically, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement failed to provide proper documentation for at least $293 million of aid they distributed, SIGAR said in a report of its findings released Wednesday.

The U.S. has provided over $2.5 billion in assistance to Afghanistan — through the United Nations, other public international organizations and nongovernmental organizations — since it pulled all of its troops from the country in August 2021 after nearly two decades of fighting.

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More than $1.7 billion of that funding has come from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to support humanitarian activities implemented by other organizations, SIGAR said.

Stripes.com explains the audit examined five bureaus that had active awards in Afghanistan between March and November 2022. Three were able to demonstrate that they had complied with counterterrorism vetting requirements.

The State Department acknowledged the other two bureaus’ compliance gaps and, in a statement published with SIGAR’s report, agreed with its recommendation to immediately ensure that proper vetting measures are taken.

The Taliban have tried to obtain U.S. aid funds “through several means, including the establishment of nongovernmental organizations,” SIGAR said, which highlights the need for the State Department to “fully and consistently assess the risks posed by its implementing partners.”

The findings of a separate SIGAR investigation published in May showed that at least $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer money had ended up in the hands of the Taliban since international forces withdrew, largely through taxes that partners paid to the group.

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