Status: 19.09.2021 4:58 p.m.
The Taliban have asked Germany and other states for humanitarian aid. According to experts, Afghanistan is facing economic collapse. In addition, bomb attacks exacerbate the situation in the country.
In view of the worsening economic crisis, the militant Islamist Taliban have asked Germany and other states for humanitarian support. This could be investments, reconstruction projects or “any kind of humanitarian support”, said their spokesman Matiullah Ruhani at the former military base in Kunduz.
Ruhani accused the international community of supporting a “corrupt government” for 20 years, but then stopped helping when the Taliban came to power. The Taliban had brought peace to Afghanistan, the spokesman stressed. “We are not terrorists.”
At the same time, the Taliban warned about the blockade of financial resources of the Afghan state with international consequences. “We are trying in all possible ways to negotiate with the governments of the USA and Europe, the World Bank, to get our assets free,” said Taliban spokesman Sabihullah Mujahid in an interview published by “Spiegel”. “This is our money.” Afghanistan needs the funds for reconstruction. “If the world community blocks our assets, freezes their aid or refuses to communicate, it will be fatal for us, but also a big problem for the world.”
An economic collapse threatens
Currently, Afghans can only withdraw money from the bank once a week per account holder, the equivalent of 200 dollars (170 euros) in Afghani, the local currency that is unusable for imports from abroad. For a large family, the amount is hardly enough to survive. Government officials in Kunduz have not received a salary for two months. At the same time, the cost of living is skyrocketing and poverty is increasing.
A financial expert in Kunduz, who already worked for the old government and also works for the new one, warns that the country will soon face economic collapse if the Taliban do not receive help from abroad. The people in Kunduz are just not yet aware of this.
In addition, in the face of several attacks, Afghanistan has not been able to calm down more than a month after the Islamists came to power. Only today were several people injured in a bomb attack on a vehicle carrying Taliban fighters in the Afghan city of Jalalabad. In addition, at least two people were killed in an attack on a Taliban police vehicle in the capital, Kabul, and 19 others were wounded on Saturday.
Resistance to Taliban rule
In addition, there is resistance to the rule of the Taliban in parts of the population. More than 100 Afghan journalists appealed to the international community to protect freedom of the press in their homeland. Assaults on photographers and reporters raised fears of the worst, according to an appeal published by the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
In Kabul, two dozen women called for the right to work, education and freedom. “Women’s rights and human rights,” the women shouted, as recorded by local media. The Taliban’s rule between 1996 and 2001 was characterized in particular by the oppression of women. Many fear that the Islamists will now reintroduce similar rules. So far, they have banned girls from attending secondary schools and instructed universities to separate the sexes.
Criticism of the Trump administration
“Women have fought for their rights for 20 years,” says radio presenter Nadia Safi. She hosted her last program on August 7th, and the day after the Taliban captured Kunduz. Since then, Radio Zohra has been a women’s channel without women’s voices in its live program. Safi doesn’t want to give up hope. “But of course the first Taliban government was not a good experience for us. And they are the same people.” The young woman believes the Bundeswehr left too early.
The German ex-diplomat Christoph Heusgen also criticizes the approach and focuses in particular on the USA. Regarding the Afghanistan policy of the former US President Donald Trump, he told the “Spiegel”: “The Trump administration was a diplomatic amateur bunch.” It was a grave mistake to make an agreement with the Taliban and leave the Afghan government aside.