US Exempts Aid Groups From Sanctions Against Taliban in Afghanistan as Hunger Threatens

The United States is taking steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, caused in part by sanctions against the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in late August when the US military left the country. On Wednesday, the Biden administration exempted aid groups from the stringent economic sanctions that it imposed against the Taliban before it took over the country. Since the takeover, the administration halted most aid to Afghanistan and froze $9.5 billion of its foreign reserves. Making exceptions for aid groups is a fine line for the administration, which does not want to lend legitimacy to the Taliban. But Afghanistan’s economy is close to collapse, and aid organizations say that the coming winter could bring mass starvation and crisis to the country. The US Treasury Department said on Wednesday that it would issuing new “general licenses” making it easier for nongovernmental organizations, international aid groups and the US government to provide relief to Afghans while keeping an economic rein on the Taliban. Meanwhile, the United Nations on Wednesday passed a resolution that exempts donors, aid groups and financial institutions involved in humanitarian assistance from international sanctions and from the UN asset freezes on leaders of the Taliban and organizations associated with them. The United Nations says nearly 23 million people in Afghanistan, or about 55% of the population, are facing extreme levels of hunger.