A few hundred Afghans marched Tuesday, December 21 in Kabul to demand the release of assets frozen by Western countries, a rare demonstration authorized by the Taliban as the country deprived of international aid is close to economic collapse.
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Amid heavy security arrangements from Islamist fighters, who flanked the parade, around 200 people gathered in a downtown square, unfurling banners in English and Pashtun saying “Let us eat“,”Give us back our frozen money” Where “No longer shame mankind“. No woman took part in the protest in the Afghan capital, according to AFP journalists.
The rally seemed clearly supported by the Taliban, who authorized it while they banned or dispersed several other parades, organized in particular by women’s rights groups to demand access to education and work. On social media, accounts affiliated with the Taliban widely broadcast images of the parade and published interviews with participants, presented as ordinary citizens who had come of their own accord.
“Our main demand is that the United States release our assets as quickly as possible. It’s about the wealth of the peopleAfghan, Shafiq Ahmad Rahimi, 28, a member of a little-known organization called the Afghan People’s Movement, told AFP. According to Shafiq Ahmad Rahimi, “the only effect of these frozen assets is to make the population suffer from hunger“.
On the brink of humanitarian catastrophe
Since the fall of the former Afghan government backed by the United States and its allies, Western countries have cut the aid taps that kept the country at arm’s length, causing a deep economic crisis. “We ask the Islamic emirate (name used by the Taliban to designate their government, editor’s note) to accept all the legitimate demands of the international communityShafiq Ahmad Rahimi added.
The international community demands that the Taliban respect human rights, especially regarding the rights of women by lifting restrictions on employment and education. The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and the World Food Program (WFP) said last week that it fears a “famine avalanche“.
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On Monday evening, the United States handed over to the UN Security Council a draft resolution facilitating humanitarian aid to Afghanistan over a year, stipulating that this aid “does not constitute a violationOf the resolution imposing sanctions on entities linked to the Taliban. A first American project providing for the authorization of exemptions from sanctions on a case-by-case basis had been refused by China, Russia, but also India and France.
Gathered Sunday in Islamabad in Pakistan, the 57 countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have promised to work with the UN to release hundreds of millions of dollars in assets.