Washington DC, Sep 20: The United States will return approximately $100 million financial aid to the US Treasury department – sanctioned for a large Afghan energy project and withhold additional $60 million in assistance post concluding Afghanistan was mismanaging resources, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said.
According to news reports, Pompeo on Thursday said, “Due to identified Afghan government corruption and financial mismanagement, the US government is returning approximately $100 million to the US treasury, that was intended for a large energy infrastructure project.”
Pompeo has raised great concern over the “lack of transparency” in the decision upheld by the Afghan National Procurement Authority, and stated Washington would withhold $60 million in planned financial assistance over its “failure to meet benchmarks for transparency and accountability”.
American will also cease all the funding for the Kabul government’s monitoring and evaluation committee by 2019 end after determining it is “incapable of being a partner in the international effort to build a better future for the Afghan people”, said Pompeo.