Kabul [Afghanistan], May 26 : The US has suspended operations in Afghanistan's Ghor province following "evidence of continued attempts by the Taliban" to divert assistance, Afghanistan-based Tolo News reported.
Tolo News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.
Speaking to reporters in Washington D.C., the US State Department's Spokesman Mathew Miller also said that the World Food Program halted distribution in two districts of Ghazni province from January to April when local officials attempted to interfere in distribution.
He said: "In April, another US government partner suspended activities in Uruzgan province after the Taliban issued demands to provide transportation support to Taliban representatives ... We have been very clear. We don't provide funding for the Taliban and we have a very strict monitoring and compliance process in place for the partner with which we do work."
"The Islamic Emirate has the control of the whole country. And there is no doubt that they also have access to this money," said Seyar Qureshi, an economist, according to Tolo News.
Miller said that the State Department and US Agency for International and Development (USAID) worked with all partners to provide basic needs assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
"The State Department and USAID continue to work with the World Bank, with the UN, with NGOs and other implementing partners and like-minded governments to provide humanitarian basic needs assistance to the people of Afghanistan. Not to the Taliban," Miller said, according to Tolo News.
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