Matthew Miller, US State Department spokesperson, has said that Washington is still the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since the takeover of power by the Taliban.
Miller added that the US is committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan.
During a press conference, in response to the question of Marzia Hosseini, Afghanistan International’s reporter, he said that one of the ways through which they continue to do so is by addressing macroeconomic issues, which provides stability for the current humanitarian response to become more effective.
He mentioned that the US provided more than USD 2 billion in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021.
In its quarterly report to US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) revealed that the United States has provided assistance to Afghanistan totalling USD 11.21 billion following its withdrawal from the country. According to SIGAR, the US allocated over USD 2.6 billion to Afghanistan between October 2021 and December 2023.
As per the report, the US Department of Defence has spent over USD 5.82 billion in humanitarian, natural disaster, and civil aid sectors up to September 30, 2022.
Within the total aid of $11.21 billion, SIGAR mentioned the transfer of USD 3.5 billion from Afghanistan’s frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan to the Afghan Trust Fund in Switzerland as part of the US assistance to Afghanistan.
Despite the urgent humanitarian needs of 10.3 million people in Afghanistan, the United Nations had announced last month that its partners have reduced aid.
