KABUL (Middle East Eye) – The Taliban have warned that they would reconsider their policy towards the United States if President Joe Biden did not reverse his “unjustified” decision to return only half of Afghanistan’s $7 billion deposited on U.S. soil, Reuters reports.
“If the United States does not deviate from its position and continues its provocative actions, the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) 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.
Biden’s plan calls for half of the funds to remain in the United States, subject to ongoing litigation by U.S. victims of terrorism, including relatives of those who died in the 11 September, 2001, hijacking attacks.
The move drew an angry response from the Taliban, who described the seizure as “theft” and a sign of the U.S.’s “moral decay.”
“The 9/11 attacks had nothing to do with Afghans,” the Taliban statement said.
The statement said the United States will face “international blame” and damage its relations with Afghans, if the decision was not reversed.
Separately, in an interview to Afghan state media RTA, Mullah Yaqoob, the acting Afghan Defence Minister and the son of Taliban founder, Mullah Omar – also termed the decision “cruel”.
“No Afghan was involved in that incident (9/11) at all,” said Yaqoob.
Afghanistan has about $9 billion in assets overseas, including the $7 billion in the United States. The rest is mostly in Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland.
The U.S. announced the freeze days after the Taliban took over power in the country on August 15 last year. Ever since, the Taliban have warned of dire economic consequences, and Afghan banks say they are facing money shortage.
The United Nations also warned in October last year that without financial aid or humanitarian relief, Afghanistan was on a “countdown to catastrophe.”
UN agencies have predicted near universal poverty in Afghanistan, with almost three-fourths of the population reliant on food and other aid.
Washington, however, said late last year that it had no plan to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets.