US announces new exemptions from sanctions regime against Afghanistan

The US Treasury on Wednesday issued three general licenses aimed at easing humanitarian aid flows into Afghanistan.

Report informs, citing CNBC, that two of the licenses allow US officials and those of certain international organizations, such as the United Nations, to engage in transactions involving the Taliban or Haqqani Network for official business.

A third license gives non-governmental organizations (NGOs) protection from US sanctions on the Taliban and the Haqqani Network for work on certain activities, including humanitarian projects.

A senior US administration official said the Taliban would have to take action to prevent Afghanistan’s economy from contracting further.

“What we can attempt to do, what we’re going to work to do, is to mitigate the humanitarian crisis by getting resources to the Afghan people, and these general licenses will allow us to allow organizations that are doing this work to do exactly that,” the official told reporters.

The top Republican on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the decision by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.

The exemption “could result in using American taxpayer funds to reward, legitimize and enable the same Taliban that took power by force and has shown no interest in abiding by international norms,” Representative Michael McCaul said in a statement.

Afghanistan’s economic crisis accelerated after the Taliban seized power in August, as the former Western-backed government collapsed and the last U.S. troops withdrew.

The United States and other donors cut financial assistance, and more than $9 billion in Afghanistan’s hard currency assets were frozen.

The United Nations says nearly 23 million people – about 55% of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold.

“We will continue to support efforts by our partners to scale up assistance and deliver necessary relief during this moment of particular need,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.