Clicky
National, Front Page

Afghan peace a far cry

UN says the country is at risk of total breakdown


Published : 10 Sep 2021 09:38 PM | Updated : 11 Sep 2021 12:18 AM

Despite the formation of caretaker Taliban government, the return of stability and peace in Afghanistan is going to be a far cry with the militant group still facing opposition from resistance forces and warlords, and its economy moving towards a crisis.

Taliban has claimed that they already took control of Panjshir valley, National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) leaders said they have continued fighting and will protect the province from the “barbaric” Taliban.

“Taliban starts searching house to house, village to village and killing youths. The fact is we will continue to fight for our freedom,” people from the resistance force tweeted.

Lamenting the silence of the international community about the Taliban acts, the tweeter says, “What is wrong with world? No one react to this barbaric Taliban.”

Media reports suggest though General Abdul Rashid Dostum fled to Uzbekistan amid Taliban onslaught, there are many other warlords vowing to defend their strongholds from the militant group and crush them -- a threat to the Taliban regime.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has warned that Afghanistan is at risk of “total breakdown” as the international community does not find a way to keep money flowing into Afghanistan.

According to an Al Jazeera news item, UNDP said in a report released on Thursday that about 97 percent of Afghanistan’s population may sink below the poverty line unless the country’s political and economic crises are addressed.

Nearly $10 billion of Afghanistan’s central bank assets are currently frozen overseas and considered key leverage over the new administration.

But the UN special envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council on Thursday that a way needed to be found to get the money into the country “to prevent a total breakdown of the economy and social order” noting that Afghanistan was facing a storm of crises including a plunging currency, a sharp rise in prices for food and fuel and a lack of cash at private banks. The authorities also do not have the funds to pay salaries, she said.

 “The economy must be allowed to breathe for a few more months, giving the Taliban a chance to demonstrate flexibility and a genuine will to do things differently this time, notably from a human rights, gender, and counterterrorism perspective,” Lyons told the 15-member Council, saying safeguards could be devised to ensure the funds were not misused.

Foreign donors led by the United States provided more than 75 percent of the public expenditure for the Afghanistan government that crumbled as the US withdrew its troops after 20 years in the country.

President Joe Biden’s administration said it is open to donating humanitarian aid but says that any direct economic lifeline, including unfreezing the central bank assets, will be contingent on Taliban actions including allowing safe passage to people to leave. 

The International Monetary Fund has also blocked the Taliban from accessing some $440m in new emergency reserves.

 “The Taliban seeks international legitimacy and support. Our message is simple: any legitimacy and support will have to be earned,” senior US diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis told the Security Council.

Russia and China, which has offered millions in emergency aid to the country, have both argued for the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets.

 “These assets belong to Afghanistan and should be used for Afghanistan, not as leverage for threats or restraints,” China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang said.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from the capital Kabul, said 18 million people rely on humanitarian aid on a daily basis in Afghanistan, from a population of 38 million people.

 “It’s a dire situation. There have been convoys coming across from Pakistan and we know that some NGOs have been using airports in other cities, like Mazar-e-Sharif, to try to get aid in,” he said.

 “We know there are ongoing discussions within the UN on how to increase the amount of aid.

 “But of course, there are some very real problems, like the political situation: there are many Taliban officials in this interim government that are on a black list, one of whom, the interim interior minister, is on terror watch list – so the issue is how to deal with that on an international political level.”

Lyons’s warning came shortly after a stark report from the UNDP that warned the country could be facing universal poverty as the economy contracts. The UNDP says the country of 18 million is already one of the world’s poorest with 72 percent of people living on no more than one dollar a day.