Originally published 2022-06-24. Dates, ages and announcements in this article refer to June 2022.
An appeal and the destination of funds
The request describes the authorities' position after the disaster. Releasing assets, delivering emergency aid and ensuring access for affected families are distinct questions.
The Taliban have put forward pleas for the US to release frozen assets in American banks in order to handle the devastating effects of an earthquake in Afghanistan.
The June 2022 report cited at least 1,000 deaths and 1,500 injuries after an earthquake of a 6.1 magnitude occurred in eastern Afghanistan.
The US administration under Joe Biden restricted access to Afghan central-bank reserves after the Taliban takeover. Of the more than $9 billion held abroad, just over $7 billion was in the United States; the rest was mostly in Germany, the UAE and Switzerland.
Biden’s order of February 11, 2022 split the roughly $7 billion: $3.5 billion was to go to a humanitarian trust fund for Afghan relief, while the other $3.5 billion stayed in the US to meet lawsuit claims by terrorism victims, including families of those killed on September 11, 2001.
Following the earthquake, Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban's main leader, asked:
"the international community, welfare, and humanitarian organizations to come forward and provide assistance to the earthquake affected people of Afghanistan."
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Sahar TV that the US ought to unfreeze the funds to help address the disaster.
[Based on reporting by: Business Insider]
Emergency aid and frozen reserves are different questions
The June 2022 Afghan earthquake report combines immediate needs with a dispute over central-bank assets. Those issues intersect without being identical. The death and injury counts were early reports, while the amount and location of frozen reserves require precise sourcing; they should not be presented as a current balance or a completed distribution to victims.
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