For decades, America has been the largest donor to Afghanistan, and in 2024, US funds made up a staggering 43% of all aid coming into the country.

The Trump administration has justified withdrawing it, saying there were “credible and longstanding concerns that funding was benefiting terrorist groups, including… the Taliban”, who govern the country. The US government further added that they had reports stating that at least $11m were “being siphoned or enriching the Taliban”.

The report that the US State Department referenced was made by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). It said that $10.9m of US taxpayer money had been paid to the Taliban-controlled government by partners of USAID in “taxes, fees, duties, or utilities”.

The Taliban government denies that aid money was going into their hands.