A Reuters report states that the United Nations is proposing to pay USD 6 million for ‘protection’ in Afghanistan to the Islamist group Taliban-led government. The fund will be given to Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry personnel. Afghanistan’s Interior Minister is Sirajuddin Haqqani who is currently under U.N. and U.S. sanctions and also wanted by the FBI. The United States has offered a bounty of USD 10 million for information leading to his arrest.
As per the report, documents reviewed by Reuters said that the funds will be paid next year and the same will be used to provide wages to Taliban ‘fighters’ who guard the UN facilities and also give them food allowance as per an expansion of an accord with the former U.S.-backed Afghan government. As of now, there are about 3,500 UN personnel in Kabul and 10 field offices. This money will be reportedly used to help Taliban provide these UN employees security.
As per Reuters’ report, the UN document said that most of the USD 4 million security budget proposed for 2022 by the 20 UN agencies operating out of Afghanistan is the payment made to protect the UN personnel. This fund will boost the wages of Taliban ‘fighters’ who are ‘protecting’ UN personnel by $275-to-$319 per month. This will also provide them monthly food allowance of USD 90 per person. The remaining USD 2 million will be provided for ‘similar services’ as per the document.
Experts are skeptical as this fund to Taliban may violate the sanctions placed by US and UN against the top leaders of Taliban. Taliban and Haqqani Network remain designated under the US government’s counterterrorism sanctions programme.
Meanwhile, UN agency has said that it is going to cut food aid to war-torn Yemen because of lack of funds.
As reported by AFP News Agency, UN agency World Food Programme said that it is ‘forced’ to cut aid to Yemen owing to lack of funds. From next year in January, about 8 million people will receive reduced ration and five million at immediate risk of slipping into famine will remain on full ration quota. The UN agency said it is ‘running out of funds’.
Since 2014, Yemen is in a state of civil war between Saudi-backed government and Iran-backed Huthi rebels and millions of people are on the verge of famine. As per AFP report, tens of thousands of people have died in the war and about 80% people in Yemen are dependent n the aid. World Food Programme, a UN agency said that desperate times have called for desperate measures and while they know cutting down on aid will send more people towards starvation, they have stretched ‘limited resources’ and are focussing only on the critical ones.
UN agency said that it needs about USD 813 million to help most vulnerable in Yemen through May and USD 1.97 billion during 2022 to deliver food assistance to the families who are on the verge of famine.