[1][2] Prior to the 2021 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Da Afghanistan Bank had approximately $7 billion of reserves on deposit at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,[3] in addition to $2 billion in Europe.
[4] After the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the Biden administration froze the funds in New York, because it was unclear who had the legal authority to access the account.
[3] On 11 February 2022, President Joe Biden announced that he intended to move $3.5 billion from the account to a trust fund to support humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, and reserve $3.5 billion for potential legal claims by families of the victims of the September 11 attacks.
[5] On 26 August 2022, a judge recommended to not award damages as the bank is "immune from jurisdiction" and that doing so would "acknowledge" the Taliban as the legitimate Afghan government.
[6] The assets freeze led to economic collapse, high unemployment, and widespread hunger.