US Won't Release Billions in Frozen Afghan Funds After Strike on Al-Qaeda Leader, Report Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US will not release any of the $7 billion in Afghan central bank assets held on American soil and has halted relevant talks with the Taliban* in the wake of the killing of the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist group (banned in Russia) in Kabul last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing US officials.

The decision reversed tiny signs of progress in negotiations between Washington and the Taliban and calls into question an economic recovery in Afghanistan where millions of people face starvation, the report said.

While the Afghan central bank desperately needs those funds to resume some of key functions, the Biden administration expressed concerns over its ability to stabilize the situation, it added.

"We do not have confidence that that institution has the safeguards and monitoring in place to manage assets responsibly," Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Afghanistan Tom West told The Wall Street Journal in a statement. "Needless to say, the Taliban’s sheltering of al-Qaeda** leader Ayman al-Zawahiri reinforces deep concerns we have regarding diversion of funds to terrorist groups."

In February, US President Joe Biden signed an order allowing the $7 billion in Afghan Central Bank funds to be split equally between a humanitarian trust to help the Afghan people and compensation to victims of terrorism.

On August 1, Biden announced that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Afghanistan on July 31. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Taliban "grossly" violated the Trump-era Doha agreement by hosting and sheltering the al-Qaeda leader in Kabul.

*Organization under UN sanctions for terrorist activities

*Terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries