Afghan Officials Fail To Prevent Capital Flight Out Of Kabul Airport

Afghan officials are reluctant to adopt basic anti-money-laundering procedures to regulate the flow of billions of dollars being taken through the Kabul airport every year.

In a report issued on December 11, the office of the U.S. Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said that Afghan officials have still not used the U.S.-supplied cash-counting machines at Kabul airport a year after they were provided.

SIGAR says many senior Afghan officials still bypass screening at the airport because of their status as "very, very important persons."

In fact, Kabul airport added a new VVIP lounge in addition to the regular VIP facility during the past year.

U.S. Treasury officials reported some $4.5 billion was taken out of Afghanistan last year.

With reporting by AP