Aid cuts by US, other donors could imperil Afghan gov’t: Watchdog

International aid to Afghanistan decreased from a high of $6.7bn in 2011 to $4.2bn in 2019, the World Bank data shows.

Further cuts in aid to Afghanistan by the United States and other donors could cause the government to collapse and return the country to chaos similar to what it lived through in the 1990s, a US government watchdog says. The warning by John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, on Monday came as the US, Russia and other countries strive to revive stalled Afghan peace talks and President Joe Biden faces a May 1 deadline for withdrawing all remaining US troops in the country. “Eighty percent of Afghanistan’s budget is funded by the US and the (other international) donors,” Sopko said in an interview with Reuters news agency.