WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration is ending most, if not all, remaining US aid for Afghanistan and Yemen, aid sources said on Monday, in what the UN World Food Programme said could be “a death sentence” for millions.
The cuts were among numerous aid programmes terminated for more than a dozen countries — including Somalia and Syria — over the weekend by the State Department and US Agency for International Development, according to Sarah Charles, a former head of USAID’s humanitarian affairs bureau, and nine sources, including six current US officials involved in humanitarian aid who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The total amount of aid cut was over $1.3 billion, according to figures provided by Stand Up For Aid, a grassroots advocacy group. That includes $562 million for Afghanistan, $107 million for Yemen and $170 million for Somalia, $237m.
The UN World Food Programme warned that the termination of US funding for emergency food assistance “could amount to a death sentence for millions of people facing extreme hunger and starvation,” and said it was in contact with the Trump administration for more information.
In a Post on X, WFP chief Cindy McCain said funding cuts “will deepen hunger, fuel instability, and make the world far less safe”.
A State Department spokesperson referred Reuters to the White House when asked about the programme terminations. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN was trying to get details on the cancelled contracts.
The cuts are the latest piece of the Trump administration’s drive to dismantle USAID, the main US humanitarian aid agency. His administration has cancelled billions of dollars in life-saving programmes since the Republican president began his second term on January 20.
Many of the terminated programmes had been granted waivers by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio from cuts to foreign aid programmes made by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency since February, three of the sources said.
The US has been the largest aid donor to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and to Yemen.
“Every remaining USAID award for Afghanistan was terminated,” said one source. The officials said the cancelled funds included assistance for a UN agency that helps women and girls, the WFP and at least six non-governmental organisations.
Assistance to Afghans provided by the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration also was terminated, five sources said.
The terminations will worsen the world’s humanitarian crises, putting millions of desperate people at risk of starvation, and could fuel new waves of illegal immigration, according to several sources and experts.
“Despite continued assurances that lifesaving programs would be protected during the Trump Administration’s ‘review’ of foreign assistance, DOGE spent the weekend canceling aid that the administration previously told Congress would be retained,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
She said the end of food assistance would “have devastating consequences” and she looked forward to hearing more from Rubio.
