KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities in the western province of Ghor are forcibly reclaiming half of the cash aid distributed to impoverished families, citing the construction of a local road as justification, local sources said.
About a month ago, the aid group Razi Organization provided cash assistance to 250 families in Lal wa Sarjangal district. But the district governor and police chief, appointed by the Taliban, are now reportedly seizing half of each family’s share by force.
Each household had received 14,000 Afghanis (about $180), but Taliban authorities are reclaiming 7,000 Afghanis from each, the source said.
The forced collection is ongoing in the Sahrak-e-Mahajerin and Aludal areas of Lal, with roughly 30% of families already affected.
The Taliban claim the money will be used to finance the construction of the Lal–Dawlatyar road.
This is not the first such incident. According to the same source, the international NGO Catholic Relief Services (CRS) previously provided 8,000 Afghanis per worker through a cash-for-work program. The Taliban reportedly confiscated half of those payments as well. Around three million Afghanis were taken from workers during that initiative and handed over to a contractor aligned with the group.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned about escalating Taliban interference in humanitarian operations across Afghanistan. In January alone, at least 56 aid projects were suspended due to obstruction and intimidation.
Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with the UN estimating that nearly 23 million people—over half the population—will need life-saving assistance in 2025.
A World Bank report in February found that 12.6 million Afghans are struggling to access enough food, with nearly 3 million facing emergency-level hunger.
