The US Inspector General has released a final report on the war and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, concluding that despite Washington’s stated efforts, the Afghan government was sidelined during the Doha peace talks, a move that ultimately weakened the country’s state institutions.

According to the official US report, the United States allocated a total of $144.7 billion for reconstruction in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2021, of which $137.3 billion was spent.

The report noted that reconstruction spending exceeded even the cost of Europe’s post-World War II Marshall Plan.

It also identified corruption within successive Afghan governments as the single biggest obstacle to effective reconstruction.

The US spent $763 billion on military operations against militants in Afghanistan, while $90 billion was earmarked for Afghan security forces.

Despite the massive expenditure, Afghanistan remained largely dependent on foreign troops, and following the US withdrawal, Afghan security forces collapsed in no time.

The report said thousands of “ghost employees” existed within Afghan security institutions, while fuel allocated for the forces was stolen on a large scale.

Vehicles, thousands of military equipment items and weapons — including 162 aircraft — were provided to Afghan forces, but much of this equipment was left behind in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal.

According to the report, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank pledged $12.16 billion, but counter-narcotics programmes remained ineffective despite $7.3 billion in spending, while stabilisation programmes yielded disappointing results even after $4.7 billion was spent.

More than 2,450 US soldiers were killed and 20,700 wounded during the Afghan war. Following the US withdrawal, $14.2 billion was allocated for the relocation of Afghan refugees to the United States.

After the fall of Kabul, the United States provided $3.83 billion in assistance to the Taliban-led government over four years, including $120 million in a single quarter in March 2025.

The report further said that international donors contributed $8.1 billion to United Nations-run programmes after the US withdrawal.

Under the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, six projects worth $1.5 billion remain active, while the Taliban government continued to collect taxes and levies on aid deliveries.