Treasury carves path for U.S. humanitarian aid to Afghanistan while upholding sanctions on Taliban

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department issued licenses on Friday that facilitate the movement of U.S. humanitarian aid and financial assistance to the people of Afghanistan while upholding sanctions on the Taliban, after the Islamist militant group seized control of the country last month.

The two general licenses are aimed at alleviating the crushing U.S. sanctions placed on the Taliban from impacting Afghan civilians. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets belonging to the Taliban and bar U.S. citizens from engaging in transactions with them, including the contribution of funds, goods or services.

"Treasury is committed to facilitating the flow of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and other activities that support their basic human needs," wrote Andrea Gacki, director of the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, in a statement.

Gacki added that the Biden administration will work with financial institutions, NGOs and international organizations to ease the flow of agricultural goods, medicine and other resources while denying assets to the Taliban and other sanctioned entities.

The United Nations Children's Fund has warned that 1 million Afghan children are at risk of starvation this year, calling on wealthy nations to put political considerations aside and increase humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.

"Nearly 10 million girls and boys depend on humanitarian assistance just to survive," UNICEF's executive director Henrietta Fore said earlier this month at a United Nations' ministerial-level meeting on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.