Taliban authorities accused the United States on Thursday of having “usurped” Afghan assets, after Washington revealed plans to set up an external fund to manage $3.5 billion of its seized national reserves. When the Taliban stormed back to power in August last year, the US froze $7 billion in central bank assets, exacerbating a poverty crisis caused by the collapse of the old regime and suspension of foreign aid. Earlier this year US President Joe Biden revealed a plan to split the cash, with half for aid to Afghanistan and half going to victims of the 9/11 terror attacks that prompted the US…