Taliban warns US against holding half of frozen Afghan funds

KABUL • The Taliban has warned that it would reconsider its policy towards the US if President Joe Biden did not reverse his "unjustified" decision to return only half of Afghanistan's US$7 billion (S$9.4 billion) deposited on US soil.

The White House says it will free up half of the US$7 billion in frozen Afghan central bank assets on US soil to help Afghans struggling with a humanitarian crisis and hold the rest to possibly satisfy terrorism-related lawsuits against the Taliban.

"If the United States does not deviate from its position and continues its provocative actions, the Islamic Emirate will also be forced to reconsider its policy towards the country," said a statement from the Taliban released by its spokesman on Monday.

"The Islamic Emirate strongly rejects Biden's unjustified actions as a violation of the rights of all Afghans," it added.

Mr Biden's plan calls for half of the funds to remain in the US subject to ongoing litigation by American victims of terrorism, including relatives of those who died in the Sept 11, 2001, hijacking attacks.

While none of the Sept 11 hijackers were Afghan, the mastermind of the attacks, Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, had been given refuge by the then Taliban government.

The statement said the US will face "international blame" and damage its relations with Afghans if the decision was not reversed.

Separately, in an interview with Afghan state media RTA, Mullah Yaqoob - the acting Afghan defence minister and the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar - also termed the decision "cruel".

Mullah Yaqoob, whose father was the Taliban's supreme leader at the time of the attacks, refused to hand over Osama.

The Americans then invaded Afghanistan, which started a 20-year war that ended only last year after the US military and armed forces of other countries pulled out, leaving the Taliban to assume power once again.

REUTERS