What documented transfers of US government funds reached the Taliban between 2017 and 2021?
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Executive summary
SIGAR’s audits and reporting document specific ways U.S. funds reached the Taliban-controlled authorities after August 2021: at least $10.9 million in U.S. funds were used to pay taxes, fees, duties and utilities to the Taliban-controlled government, and SIGAR reports the U.S. (largely via UN and NGO channels) disbursed billions in humanitarian and development assistance after the withdrawal, with estimates of roughly $2.8–$3.8 billion delivered by international organizations since August 2021 [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. What the watchdog found: documented transfers via “taxes, fees, duties, and utilities”
SIGAR’s May 2024 audit concluded that U.S.-funded assistance delivered to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover was, in part, passing to the Taliban-controlled government in the form of taxes, fees, import duties, permits, licenses and payments for utilities that implementing partners were required to pay to operate in the country. SIGAR identified at least $10.9 million in such payments made by 38 State, USAID and USAGM implementing partners from October 2021 through September 2023, and cautioned this figure is likely only a fraction of the total because UN agencies and other recipients did not provide full data [1].
2. How the money moved: UN and NGO delivery, cash shipments, and local levies
Reporting across SIGAR and other analysts shows most post‑withdrawal U.S. assistance flowed not directly from Washington to Kabul but through UN agencies and NGOs delivering humanitarian and development aid; those organizations often shipped physical U.S. dollars and paid local costs — and the Taliban levied taxes and fees on those operations, effectively channeling some funds to the de facto authorities [3] [1] [2].
3. Scale: billions of dollars delivered, but small documented direct payments
Multiple sources report large sums of humanitarian and development assistance delivered to Afghanistan after August 2021. SIGAR and congressional statements cite roughly $2.8 billion in U.S.-funded assistance delivered via international organizations since the Taliban takeover, and other reporting places U.S. disbursements and UN-facilitated shipments in the ballpark of several billion dollars overall — figures that create the context for SIGAR’s $10.9 million documented payments and broader concern that some U.S.-funded activity benefits the Taliban [2] [3] [5].
4. Weapons, equipment and in‑kind transfers: a separate but related channel
SIGAR and other government reporting emphasize that U.S.-funded equipment, weapons and facilities left behind during the 2021 withdrawal formed a core of the Taliban’s security apparatus. Those material items are distinct from cash transfers but represent another documented way U.S.-provided assets ended up in Taliban hands after the collapse of the Afghan government [6] [2].
5. Political claims and contested figures: what lawmakers and commentators are saying
Members of Congress and commentators have amplified and at times inflated interpretations of SIGAR’s findings. For example, statements citing that “the Taliban gained access to approximately $57.6 million” or alleging weekly $40–$45 million cash transfers are circulating in political messaging; SIGAR’s audit does not support a single figure of routine weekly U.S. payments directly to the Taliban, and the watchdog itself warns its $10.9 million figure is a minimum and likely incomplete because UN and other data were unavailable [7] [8] [1] [9].
6. What SIGAR and others say about uncertainty and limits of oversight
SIGAR repeatedly notes limits to its visibility: UN agencies and some implementing partners did not provide full subaward or payment data, questionnaires allowed anonymity, and some awards predated the Taliban takeover — all of which mean SIGAR could not determine the full total of U.S. funds that may have been used to pay levies to the Taliban-controlled government [1]. John Sopko and other oversight figures have testified they “cannot assure” Congress that American aid is not currently benefiting the Taliban, underscoring those monitoring gaps [10].
7. Competing perspectives: humanitarian necessity vs. diversion risk
Policy analysts and foreign policy actors describe a dilemma: large-scale humanitarian cash and commodity shipments were necessary to avert economic collapse and famine, and the U.S. and partners continued sizable aid flows (reported between roughly $2.5–$3.8 billion over certain post-2021 periods), yet those flows increased the Taliban’s ability to extract revenue and hold large supplies of U.S. dollars — a policy tradeoff clearly flagged in SIGAR and policy analyses [3] [11] [4].
8. Bottom line and what is documented
Available reporting and SIGAR’s audits document at least $10.9 million in U.S.-funded payments to the Taliban-controlled government in the form of taxes, fees, duties and utilities [1]; billions in U.S.-funded humanitarian and development assistance delivered via the UN and NGOs after August 2021, which created channels through which the Taliban could benefit [2] [3]; and extensive U.S.-funded materiel left behind that the Taliban now use [6] [2]. Claims of higher, routine weekly cash transfers are present in political statements but are not fully substantiated by the SIGAR audit documents provided here [9] [7].
Limitations: this analysis uses only the supplied sources; those sources themselves note incomplete data from UN agencies and implementing partners and therefore do not quantify every dollar that may have flowed to the Taliban [1].