Michael McCaul, the chairman of the United States House Foreign Affairs Committee, has once again voiced strong criticism against the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, alleging that aid is inadvertently bolstering the Taliban. McCaul articulated during a recent hearing that essential humanitarian assistance is currently failing to reach vulnerable women and children in Afghanistan.
Addressing the committee, McCaul remarked, “I would like to redirect our attention to Afghanistan, where the Biden administration’s disorderly and perilous withdrawal has precipitated a dire humanitarian emergency that persists to this day. Furthermore, we are cognizant that taxpayer-funded aid is being channeled towards Taliban militants and their supporters rather than the suffering Afghan populace.”

Testifying at the hearing, the head of the United States International Aid Agency underscored that humanitarian organizations have been compelled to suspend operations in certain instances to mitigate the potential misuse of aid within Afghanistan. Samantha Power, serving as the head of the United States International Aid Agency, elucidated, “We have observed instances where our funded partners have suspended aid delivery either due to diversion or the systemic exclusion of women from employment opportunities—both circumstances prompting suspension.” In contrast, the Taliban has refuted allegations of meddling in the distribution of humanitarian aid, asserting their role as mere overseers of the aid dissemination process. Abdul Latif Nazari, a deputy minister at the Ministry of Economy, conveyed to TOLOnews, “We categorically deny any interference or misappropriation in the aid distribution process. Earlier, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that the international community had disbursed nearly $3 billion in aid to Afghanistan since August 2021, with the United States contributing $2.6 billion of the total sum.