West claims IEA letter to US Congress ‘misconstrued the facts’
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West said on Friday the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) letter to Congress this week “misconstrued the facts” about the country’s economic and humanitarian crises.
In a series of tweets, West said: “The Taliban’s (IEA) letter to Congress earlier this week misconstrued the facts re Afghanistan’s economic & humanitarian crisis. Afghanistan was unfortunately already suffering a terrible humanitarian crisis before mid-August, made worse by war, years of drought, & the pandemic.”
This comes after Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi warned Wednesday that continued “sanctions” will not help the current situation and could instead lead to a major crisis including a mass migration.
In a letter addressed to the United States Congress, Muttaqi said after suffering decades of war, the Afghan people now “have a right to financial security.”
“Currently the fundamental challenge of our people is financial security and the roots of this concern lead back to the freezing of assets of our people by the American government,” he said.
He also said that following the signing of the Doha Agreement in February last year, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) “no longer find ourselves in direct conflict with one another nor are we a military opposition, what logic could possibly exist behind the freezing of our assets?”
However, West said on Friday that “U.S. officials made clear to the Taliban (IEA) for years that if they pursued a military takeover rather than a negotiated settlement with fellow Afghans…then critical non-humanitarian aid provided by the international community – in an economy enormously dependent on aid, including for basic services – would all but cease. That is what occurred.”
He said the U.S. would “continue clear-eyed, candid diplomacy with the Taliban (IEA). Legitimacy and support must be earned by actions to address terrorism, establish an inclusive government, and respect the rights of minorities, women and girls – including equal access to education and employment.”
West also stated that the U.S. will continue to support the Afghan people with humanitarian aid. “We’ve provided $474 million this year, applaud the robust efforts of Allies and partners in this space, and are making every effort to help the UN and humanitarian actors scale up to meet needs this winter,” he said.