(Clarifies, however that it’s not clear if the new U.S. licensing exempts U.N. payment to Taliban security payments)

Jonathan Landay, Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States exempted Wednesday U.S. officials and U.N. officers doing business with Taliban of U.S. sanctions. This decision was taken to ease aid flow to Afghanistan in an effort at reducing its humanitarian crisis.

However, it was not clear if the U.N. would allow for $6 million in U.N. security payments to Islamists.

Reuters exclusively reported Tuesday that the U.N. will subsidize next-year’s monthly salaries of Taliban-run Interior Ministry staff who protect U.N. facilities, and also pay monthly food allowances.

Some experts said this proposal raises concerns about whether these payments could violate U.N. sanctions on Taliban leaders and U.S. sanction on them.

The Treasury Department refused to comment on whether or not the U.N. payment would be exempted from U.S. sanctions.

Washington, which has long considered the Taliban a terrorist organization, ordered that all U.S. assets be frozen. This also prohibited Americans from dealing directly with them.

On Wednesday, the Treasury issued three general licenses to ease humanitarian aid into Afghanistan.

As long as it is official business, two of these licenses permit U.S. officials to conduct transactions with Haqqani or Taliban network.

The third general license provides protection for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). It allows them to work on specific types of projects including programs that address basic human need, rule of law, and education.

According to a senior U.S. official, even with the new licenses the Taliban will have to decide how to run the government in order to avoid a total economic collapse.

The official stated that they could attempt to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and that the organization that is doing that work would be able to use these general licenses.

Treasury advised that the new licenses would not permit financial transfers to Taliban and Haqani networks “other than the effect of paying taxes, fees or import duties or the purchase of permits, licences or other public utility services.”

Afghanistan’s current economic crisis was accelerated by the Taliban taking power in August. The former Western-backed government had collapsed.

United States of America and other donor cut their financial aid, and Afghanistan’s hard currency assets were frozen at more than $9Billion.

The United Nations is warning that nearly 23 million people – about 55% of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold.

Although the U.S. Treasury provided banks with “comfort mails” to assure them that they could process humanitarian transactions, concerns about U.S. sanction continue to block passage of basic supplies such as food and medicine.

The U.N. Security Council also passed a resolution to exempt donors, aid groups, and financial institutions from asset freezes by U.N. on Taliban leaders and related entities.

The exemption is “solely for the provision of humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan which the council will review in one year,” Jeffrey DeLaurentis, a senior adviser to the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said in urging approval of the measure.

This story clarifies the fact that U.S. new license does not exempt Taliban payments from U.N. security.