Sept. 11 victims cannot seize Afghan central bank assets -U.S. judge

A man rides a bike in front of the Bank of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo

A U.S. judge decided on Tuesday that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are not entitled to seize $3.5 billion of assets belonging to Afghanistan's central bank to satisfy court judgments they obtained against the Taliban.

U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said he was "constitutionally restrained" from finding that the Taliban was Afghanistan's legitimate government, a precursor for attaching assets belonging to Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB.