U.N. says Taliban interfering with aid, resisting cash plan

FILE PHOTO: Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) and Martin Griffiths, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator attend the launch of 2022 humanitarian response plans for Afghanistan and the region in Geneva, Switzerland January 10, 2022. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban are resisting efforts by the United Nations to help get humanitarian funding into the country and are interfering in the delivery of aid, U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Thursday.

Since the hardline Islamist Taliban took over in August as U.S.-led forces withdrew after two decades of war, international banks are wary of testing U.N. and U.S. sanctions, leaving the United Nations and aid groups struggling to deliver enough cash to run operations.