BURLINGTON, Vt. — A major U.S. development contractor that is being sued by family members of American troops and contractors killed in Afghanistan has argued it should be dismissed from the lawsuit since its projects and activities were conducted in support of U.S. foreign policy goals.
Lawyers representing DAI, a Maryland-based international development company that has worked in more than 150 countries, filed a memorandum Wednesday calling on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the company from a lawsuit that involves a variety of U.S. and international contractors that operated in Afghanistan after the U.S. invasion.
The lawsuit alleges that DAI violated the Anti-Terrorism Act by funneling protection payments — through subcontractors and sub-subcontractors — to terrorist groups, which then enabled those groups to carry out deadly attacks on U.S. personnel between 2009 and 2017.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.