The Taliban is increasing its influence over aid organizations working in Afghanistan, including programs managed by the United Nations, a U.S. government report warned. "According to multiple UN officials across different agencies, the Taliban have effectively infiltrated and influenced most UN-managed assistance programming," said a quarterly report made public on August 8 by the U.S. Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Increasing influence over aid programs is "one facet of an intensive strategy to consolidate power," the report said, adding that any form of humanitarian help is vulnerable to manipulation by the hard-line Islamist rulers.
Taliban Increasingly Influencing UN-Managed Aid Programs, U.S. Report Finds
Afghan vendors sell bread on a roadside in Kabul.