(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order Friday that would make $7 billion in Afghan funds held in the United States available to compensate victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, and to provide humanitarian relief and other support to the Afghan people dealing with crushing hunger, according to an official familiar with the decision.
The funds were deposited by Afghanistan in the United States before the Taliban took over last year and have since been made unavailable to the Taliban. Much of the money comes from U.S. and other international donations over the past 20 years, according to the official.
The U.S. has struggled to determine how to provide aid to the Afghan people without money going to the Taliban.
Biden’s order would set in motion a plan to make $3.5 billion of the funds be set aside for American victims of terrorism who are pursuing litigation against the Taliban, according to the official. The money would be available to them pending the outcomes of their litigation.
The other half of the funds would be intended to be used “for the benefit of the Afghan people and for Afghanistan’s future,” the official said. That would include humanitarian relief and other needs, the official said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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