The Taliban, which then controlled and now again controls Afghanistan, assisted al-Qaeda, whose Aug. 7, 1998, bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya killed over 200 and injured thousands. After retaking control of Afghanistan in 2021 the Taliban laid claim to funds held by the Afghan central bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A February 2022 Executive Order blocked the use or transfer of such funds, some of which were designated for payment of civil judgments obtained by victims of the Taliban’s acts of terrorism. The Executive Order prompted the surviving victims and their families of the embassy bombings—and the estates of those killed—to sue the Taliban.
