Islamic Emirate Rejects Sopko’s Claims of Interference in Intl Aid

The technical deputy minister of the Ministry of Economy, Abdul Latif Nazari, told TOLOnews that international organizations’ aid in Afghanistan is distributed transparently and under strict supervision.

Abdul Latif Nazari, the technical deputy minister of the Ministry of Economy, stated: “The Ministry of Economy of the Islamic Emirate completely rejects the recent statements of John Sopko, the former US Special Inspector. During the rule of the Islamic Emirate, all international aid has been transparent and supervised. The Ministry of Economy has made every effort to facilitate international aid and has not interfered in the process.”

“All efforts must be made to ensure that aid continues regularly and is provided in a manner that allows the Islamic Emirate to engage with the international community and prove that aid has reached specific provinces and regions with documented statistics. Hopefully, these aid programs will not be halted,” said Abdul Basir Turki, an economic analyst.

John Sopko, the former US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, claimed that a “sizeable’ portion of the aid funds intended for Afghanistan, paid by American taxpayers, had ended up in the pockets of the “Taliban.”

Speaking to Fox News, Sopko stressed that the US does not have strict oversight over the aid, and this situation will continue.

He said: “We know a sizable amount went into the pockets of the Taliban, and just so you know I’m no longer with the government, but the final report we issued and I signed off on before my departure indicated that. We know it’s going to continue because unfortunately we have nobody on the ground and the money is going through the UN, World Food organization and other international organizations and we don’t really have good oversight.”

Sopko also added that for the past twenty years, all US institutions have failed to properly allocate funds in Afghanistan.