The US is still keeping nearly $10 billion of Afghan assets frozen from the Taliban, but says banks are allowed to send humanitarian aid

• The US said banks and aid groups can send money to Afghanistan without violating sanctions.
• Money stopped going to Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. It now faces a humanitarian crisis.

The US said banks and aid groups were allowed to send money to Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes as it continues to keep nearly $10 billion of Afghan assets frozen from the Taliban.

The Treasury Department said on Wednesday that transferring money to Afghanistan to help civilians would not violate the sanctions put on the country after the Taliban takeover last August.

Afghanistan faces a humanitarian crisis since the Taliban seized control and money from overseas sources stopped coming in.

Some aid groups stopped sending money to Afghanistan due to the Taliban being in power, and the US froze around $9.5 billion in assets belonging to Afghanistan's central bank to stop the Taliban from accessing it.

The UN has since warned that millions of people could starve in Afghanistan, and some parents are reportedly selling their children because they need money so badly.

The Treasury said on Wednesday that banks can transfer money to Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes, and aid groups can support clean water projects and pay teachers and healthcare workers at state-run institutions without violating sanctions.

Banks can process transactions related to humanitarian work, "including clearing, settlement, and transfers through, to, or otherwise involving privately owned and state-owned Afghan depository institutions," the department said.

The US announced last month that it was sending $308 million in aid to Afghanistan.