US aid vetting failures may have benefited militants in Afghanistan: watchdog

WASHINGTON: Amid already existing concerns of arms and ammunition left behind in the United States' hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan being used by militants, a US watchdog has warned that Washington's aid might be benefiting terrorists in the war-torn country.

A report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that two US State Department bureaus could not prove compliance with internal policies for vetting aid groups in Afghanistan that received $293 million in funds.

The revelation comes as the US remains the largest aid donor to impoverished Afghanistan nearly three years after the Taliban seized Kabul as the last US troops completed a chaotic pullout following 20 years of war.

Ever since the its withdrawal back in August 2021, the country has provided more than $17.9 billion in assistance to Afghanistan.

"It is critical that the State knows who is actually benefiting from this assistance in order to prevent the aid from being diverted to the Taliban or other sanctioned parties," said the SIGAR report.

The report falls in line with the concerns raised by Pakistan which has time again complained of US weapons being used by banned outfits, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

In March, Geo News reported that details regarding the weapons and equipment confiscated by the security forces indicate that the militants have been using US-made weapons in their attacks inside Pakistan in recent months.

It is to be noted that the Pentagon itself has confirmed that out of the 427,300 weapons that Washington had provided to the Afghan forces, around 300,000 weapons were "left behind" when its forces withdrew from the wartorn country in August 2021.

The SIGAR report said that the Afghan Taliban have tried to obtain US aid funds "through several means, including the establishment of humanitarian organizations," underscoring the need for the department to "fully and consistently assess the risks posed by its implementing partners."

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SIGAR said three of five State Department bureaus were found in compliance with department regulations requiring vetting of aid fund recipients.

But the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour, and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs could not provide enough documentation to prove their adherence.

"State could not demonstrate compliance with its partner vetting requirements on awards that disbursed at least $293 million in Afghanistan," it continued.

For that reason, "there is an increased risk that terrorists and terrorist-affiliated individuals and entities may have illegally benefited," it said.

The department agreed with the report's conclusions and would "work to ensure compliance" with vetting requirements, it said.