US judge rules that September 11 victims are not entitled to seize assets from the Afghan national bank.

On September 11, 2001, aircraft were flown into the Pentagon in northern Virginia, the World Trade Center in New York City, and a field in Pennsylvania, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people.

In order to meet court judgments they acquired against the Taliban, victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks should not be permitted to collect billions of dollars' worth of assets belonging to Afghanistan's central bank, according to a recommendation made by a judge in the United States.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in Manhattan said Da Afghanistan Bank is immune from jurisdiction and approving the seizures would recognize the Islamist militant group as the Afghan government, which only the U.S. president can do.

"Taliban victims have fought for years for justice, accountability and compensation. They are entitled to nothing less," Judge Netburn wrote.

"But the law limits the compensation the court can authorize, and those limitations cause DAB 's assets to exceed its authority."

Washington froze Afghan government funds after the Taliban's military takeover last August.

But it has been pressured to find a way to release the money without recognizing the new Afghan government, which claims it as its own.

Judge Netburn's recommendation will be considered by U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan, who is also overseeing the litigation and may decide whether to accept her recommendation.

The decision is a defeat for four groups of creditors who had sued a number of defendants they blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Lawyers for the groups did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

At the time of the attacks, the ruling Taliban allowed al Qaeda to operate in Afghanistan.

The United States ousted the Taliban and al-Qaida in late 2001, but the Taliban returned to power a year ago when U.S. and other Western forces withdrew from the country.

Executive order by Biden

Creditor groups have sought to tap some of the $7 billion in Afghan central bank funds frozen at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

In a February executive order, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered that $3.5 billion of that sum be set aside "for the benefit of the Afghan people" so that victims can sue for the rest in court.

The U.S. government did not comment at the time on whether the creditor groups were entitled to recover the funds under the Terrorist Risk Insurance Act of 2002.

It urged Ms. Netburn and Mr. Daniels to view the exceptions to immunity narrowly, citing the risk of interference with the President's authority to conduct foreign relations and potential challenges to American property abroad.

Other countries hold about $2 billion in Afghan reserves.

A humanitarian catastrophe is now affecting Afghanistan. (Mstyslav Chernov/AP Photo)

The leader of #AfghanEvac, Shawn Van Diver, expressed his hope that the blocked cash may be utilized to support the faltering Afghan economy without benefiting the Taliban. #AfghanEvac assists in the evacuation and resettlement of Afghans.

He said, "The judge has acted appropriately here.

On September 11, 2001, aircraft were flown into the Pentagon in northern Virginia, the World Trade Center in New York City, and a field in Pennsylvania, resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 people.

US sanctions forbid conducting financial transactions with the Taliban but permit aid to the Afghan people.

Fire and rescue personnel sift through the wreckage after terrorists in hijacked commercial aircraft destroyed the World Trade Center twin buildings in New York.