Afghan central bank says U.S. plan for frozen funds an 'injustice'

FILE PHOTO: An UNHCR worker pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with aid supplies for a displaced Afghan family outside the distribution center as a Taliban fighter secures the area on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Afghanistan's central bank on Saturday criticised Washington's plan to use half the bank's $7 billion in frozen assets on U.S. soil for humanitarian aid and set aside the rest to possibly satisfy lawsuits over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

U.S. administration officials said on Friday they would work to ensure access to $3.5 billion of the assets would benefit the Afghan people, amid calls for the money to be used to address a deepening economic crisis since the Taliban seized power last year.