MONITORING (SW) – The U.S. Treasury on Friday issued a new general license authorizing all commercial transactions with Afghanistan’s governing institutions, expanding recently announced exemptions from sanctions against the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
The new license, the seventh issued by Treasury in recent months, allows “all transactions involving Afghanistan and its governing institutions that would otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions,” the Treasury Department said.
However, it still prohibits financial transfers to the Taliban, the Haqqani network, associated entities and individuals blocked by the Treasury Department, reported the VOA.
The action came after talks between the Treasury Department and private sector executives doing business in Afghanistan and is similar to a series of sanctions exemptions granted in recent months to nongovernmental organizations.
“Our action today recognizes that in light of this dire crisis, it is essential that we address concerns that sanctions inhibit commercial and financial activity while we continue to deny financial resources to the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other malign actors,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
Wide-ranging U.S. economic sanctions against the Taliban date to their first time in power in the 1990s. Both the Taliban and the Haqqani network are labeled Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the Treasury Department.
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