Hina Rabbani Khar, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has called for the lifting of Western sanctions against Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, arguing that the country’s economy must not be jeopardized.
Last year’s Taliban takeover forced foreign countries, led by the United States, to restrict development and security help, and the stringent execution of sanctions has weakened the country’s banking system.
Khar stated in an interview published on Thursday by the German tabloid Welt that the economic isolation of Afghanistan was causing the country’s economic downfall.
“This will occur if the country continues locked out of international banking and its foreign assets remain frozen. We must not foster famine, “She continued.
Khar stated that the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan, in which Germany was also participating, had grave consequences because it was not preceded by a negotiated solution, and she urged Germany to play an active political role in alleviating sanctions.
“In the current situation, it is not prudent to continue to starve Afghanistan and risk the country’s economic implosion,” she said, adding that economic aid was required to assist the Afghan people.
“How is it that we spent $3 trillion on the war, but don’t even have $10 billion to ensure the survival of the Afghan people? I cannot comprehend this conduct “She continued.
Taliban takeover
In Afghanistan, the Taliban retook control in August of last year when the United States withdrew its troops, nearly 20 years after the group was evicted by US-led forces following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The US administration froze around $9.5 billion of the Afghan government’s reserves in US banks days after the takeover to pay the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Additionally, banks have imposed stringent limitations on withdrawals by individual clients, and many citizens have resorted to selling home items to purchase food for their families.
The United Nations estimates that more than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million people are suffering from hunger. After the Taliban’s return, the country’s economy, already devastated by decades of war, went into freefall.
Western nations have attached the unfreezing of Taliban assets to the Taliban’s respect for human rights, particularly regarding the employment and education of women and girls.
