US aid to Afghanistan under scrutiny amid concerns of Taliban funding.

The US government’s Afghanistan watchdog, John Sopko, has told Congress that he cannot guarantee that US aid to Afghanistan is not currently funding the Taliban. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) warned that aid to the Afghan people could be diverted before it reaches its intended recipient, due to a lack of effective oversight. SIGAR's latest report also revealed that efforts to process Afghan visa applications or refugee applications are chronically understaffed and face a backlog of approximately 175,000 applicants.