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US judge blocks 9/11 victims from seizing billions of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves

A US judge has ruled that the families of the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks are not entitled to seize $3.5 billion in funds belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank.

In his ruling, Manhattan District Judge George Daniels says he is “constitutionally restrained” from allowing the families access to the billions unilaterally frozen by the White House in 2021.

“The judgment creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan,” Daniels wrote in his 30-page judgment.

“The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people, must pay for the Taliban’s liability in the 9/11 attacks,” he added, highlighting that ruling in the families’ favor would amount to officially recognizing the Taliban as Afghanistan’s “legitimate government.”

Much of the international community has yet to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers.

In the months after the disintegration of the US-trained Afghan army and the chaotic exit of US troops in August 2021, US President Joe Biden ordered the freezing of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves.

The loss of its foreign reserves pushed Afghanistan into an acute humanitarian crisis, as the central bank lacks the resources to combat high inflation and help a populace on the brink of starvation.

Save the Children reports show that 97 percent of Afghan families are struggling to provide enough food for their children, while almost 80 percent of children say they are going to bed hungry.

Following Tuesday’s court decision, the four groups of judgment creditors seeking restitution for their losses announced that they would appeal the ruling.

“This decision deprives over 10,000 members of the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban,” said Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for one creditor group known as the Havlish plaintiffs. “We believe it is wrongly decided and will appeal.”

Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. None of the hijackers responsible for the tragedy were from Afghanistan; however, 15 were from Saudi Arabia.