• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. US & Canada
  4. US cannot seize $3.5bln Afghan funds, allocate to 9/11 victims: Judge
US & Canada

US cannot seize $3.5bln Afghan funds, allocate to 9/11 victims: Judge

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 22 Feb 08:09
  • 1 Shares

The assets were illegally frozen on August 15, 2021, the day the Taliban entered Kabul.

  • Children are bearing the brunt of US’ 20 years of occupation which left a growing humanitarian crisis. (Archive)
    Children are bearing the brunt of the US’ 20 years of occupation, which left a growing humanitarian crisis. (Archive)

A federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday that the relatives of 9/11 victims cannot lay their hands on $3.5 billion in funds belonging to Afghanistan's central bank.

The assets were illegally frozen on August 15, 2021, the day the Taliban entered Kabul concurrently with the hasty withdrawal of US occupation forces from Afghanistan. Later, US President Joe Biden stated that he would have the $7 billion in illegally frozen funds split between Afghan humanitarian aid and what he called American victims of "terrorism", including 9/11 families.

At the time, demonstrations erupted in Kabul in protest to Biden’s order to just simply $3.5 billion that belong to the struggling Afghan people. The step was slammed as a showcase of theft and US moral decline by a top Taliban official

Moreover, protesters gathered outside Kabul’s grand Eid Gah mosque and demanded financial compensation for the tens of thousands of Afghans killed during the last 20 years of US occupation.

Biden's order sparked outrage on social media storm with the hashtag #USAstolemoneyfromafghan trending on Twitter. 

A group of US families, who had previously sued the Taliban for their losses and won, have now moved to seize the cash in order to pay off the judgment debt.

But Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York said Tuesday, as quoted by AFP, that the federal courts lack the jurisdiction to seize the funds from Afghanistan's central bank. 

Read more: US won't release billions in frozen Afghan funds: WSJ

"The Judgment Creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan," Daniels explained in a 30-page opinion. 

"The fundamental conclusion... is that neither the Taliban nor the Judgment Creditors are entitled to raid the coffers of the state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban's debts," he tersely stated.

Daniels' ruling, which aligns with a recommendation by another judge last year, deals a blow to Biden, as well as insurance companies that made payments because of the attacks. 

It is worth noting that using the 9/11 attacks as a pretext, then-president George W Bush launched a brutal invasion of Afghanistan, resulting in two decades of war. 

Meanwhile, the children of Afghanistan are left too weak to crawl or stand due to famine.

Millions of Afghan children are struggling to survive severe food shortages during a harsh winter and economic crash, as international aid was cut off following the hasty withdrawal of US occupation forces. Babies are too weak to crawl, stand, or walk. They appear to be bearing the burden of US occupation.

Read more: Is This the Fall of US Strategy in Afghanistan?

  • US occupation forces
  • Afghanistan
  • US judge
  • Afghan central bank funds

Trending Now

All
US occupation Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, in 2019. (US Army)

US to impose unilateral restrictions on imports of Afghan heritage materials

Most Read

A woman walks by a money exchange shop decorated with different countries currency banknotes at Central, a business district in Hong Kong, Aug. 6, 2019 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

New BRICS currency underway: State Duma Deputy Chairman

  • Europe
  • 30 Mar
hhh

UAE, KSA, India, South Korea secretly supplying missiles to Ukraine

  • Europe
  • 28 Mar
A view of the exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP)

Iran wins ICJ motion against US over illegal seizure of assets

  • Europe
  • 30 Mar
China, Brazil announce de-dollarization of mutual trade

China, Brazil announce de-dollarization of mutual trade

  • Latin America
  • 30 Mar

Read this

All
An AI robot at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in 2020 (Reuters)
US & Canada

Shut down AI or 'everyone on Earth will die', researcher warns

  • 1 Apr
Ben-Gvir
Palestine

Ex-Israeli police chief to Netanyahu: Ben-Gvir could launch coup

  • 1 Apr
ds
Europe

US nuke umbrella can't protect Kiev from 'powerful Russian fire': DPRK

  • 1 Apr
An image of the Colnbrook immigration removal center in the UK in 2004 (AP)
Europe

UK immigration detention detainee death, suicide attempts spark fear

  • 1 Apr
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS