Ministry rejects claims of aid embezzlement

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Ministry of Economy has rejected the statements made by John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, regarding the caretaker government’s embezzlement of humanitarian aid.

Abdul Latif Nazari, Deputy Minister of Economy, told TOLOnews that the aim of monitoring the provision of humanitarian aid is to ensure transparency.

According to Nazari, these statements have been made in an unprofessional manner.

Abdul Latif Nazari said, “The statements of the Special Inspector are unprofessional, and we reject them. The Islamic Emirate cooperates with the institutions and bodies of the international community and donor countries. Our goal is to monitor and create more transparency, and we have no kind of seizure or interference in the process of distributing these aids.”

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, in an interview with the ProPublica news outlet, said that US aid to Afghanistan ends up in the hands of the Islamic Emirate.

Sopko has provided data indicating that after the Islamic Emirate took control over Afghanistan, the United Nations has provided $2.9 billion in aid to Afghanistan, which often does not reach the needy.

Sopko said: “Most of the money that’s going in cash through the U.N. is ultimately coming from US taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, some analysts consider the international community’s aid to the Afghan people important and emphasized the continuation of this aid.

“The world is always looking for an excuse and presents a topic from its perspective, and now they are trying to reduce aid to Afghanistan, which is their policy,” Mohammad Nabi Afghan, an economic analyst, told TOLOnews.

“The statements of John Sopko regarding the funds that have entered Afghanistan, amounting to about $2.9 billion, in my view, have a political aspect,” said Seyar Quraishi, another economic analyst.

Last week, Marco Rubio, an American Senator, proposed a plan calling for the halt of Washington’s financial aid through the United Nations to Afghanistan, stating that until it is ensured that humanitarian aid is not being used to strengthen the Islamic Emirate, the United Nations should stop its aid to Afghanistan.