RASC News Agency: John Sopko, the former Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), has disclosed that a significant portion of U.S. aid to Afghanistan has ended up in Taliban-controlled channels. In an interview with Fox News, Sopko voiced his frustration over the ongoing misuse of funds, warning that the trend is set to persist. “Regrettably, we have no direct oversight in Afghanistan. The funds are channeled through the United Nations, the World Food Programme, and other international bodies, yet our ability to monitor their allocation remains inadequate,” he remarked.
Sopko underscored that the issue goes beyond isolated cases of corruption. He noted that several experienced officials within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) had assisted SIGAR in monitoring aid distribution, but their warnings fell on deaf ears in Washington. “We documented everything in our reports, but none of it was taken seriously by policymakers,” he stated. He further criticized the chronic mismanagement of American funds in Afghanistan over the past two decades, arguing that U.S. taxpayers had been misled about the true state of Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts.
This revelation comes amid former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to suspend all foreign aid, including assistance to Afghanistan, for at least three months. The abrupt cessation of funding sent shockwaves through the Taliban’s ranks, triggering a sharp depreciation of the kabuli rupees, market instability, and escalating internal disputes among Taliban leaders. Reports suggest that several high-ranking Taliban officials have fled the country amid growing tensions.
