US decision to split frozen funds for relief, 9/11 victims is injustice to Afghan people: Afghanistan's central bank

Afghanistan's central bank on Saturday criticized the US decision to split USD 7 billion of the frozen Afghan assets fund between humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and compensate victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and said it is an "injustice" to the people of Afghanistan.

"Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) considers the latest decision of USA on blocking FX (foreign exchange) reserves and allocating them to irrelevant purposes, injustice to the people of Afghanistan," DAB, Central Bank of Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"DAB will never accept if the FX reserves of Afghanistan is paid under the name of compensation or humanitarian assistance to others and wants the reversal of the decision and release of all FX reserves of Afghanistan," the statement added.

This comes after US President Biden on Friday (local time) signed an executive order to free 7 billion US dollars out of more than 9 billion frozen Afghan assets, splitting the money between humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and a fund for 9/11 victims.

Afghanistan's banking system remains crippled after the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in mid-August last year.

A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban, have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis.

(ANI)