The deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Tuesday sharply criticized foreign countries for remaining silent about the US’s freezing of Afghanistan’s banking assets amid the increasing economic problems in the country.
Talking to reporters in Kabul, Baradar said economic problems are increasing in Afghanistan day by day, and that the economic challenges could affect the region and world.
He said the United States should have the same relations with Afghanistan as it does with other countries.
“The US is unhappy about leaving Afghanistan, the people who are here and who were allies to the US want to create economic problems here. The money that they have frozen belongs to Afghanistan or to Ghani? Why is the world not telling the US that this money belongs to the people of Afghanistan, not the government officials? Economic problems are increasing day by day. When a country plunges into economic problems, it will not only affect that country, but will also affect other countries. Our only demand is that the US should show the same behavior toward the Afghan people and government as it does with the world,” Baradar said.
Baradar’s remarks follow White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s comment on Monday that there is no plan to release the funds. “There are a number of reasons why these reserves remain inaccessible,” Psaki said at a press briefing.
Psaki’s remarks come as Afghanistan has witnessed a plunging drop in the value of the afghani against the US dollar–unprecedented in the last 20 years–which has resulted in a sharp increase in the price of goods.
Some activists said the people of Afghanistan are paying the price for political problems between the Islamic Emirate and the world, especially with the United States.
“Countries should keep humanitarian support aside from politics. Unfortunately, we have become victims of the politicians’ politics, victims of the foreigners’ politics,” said Torpekay Momand, a civil society activist.
Amid the economic and humanitarian crisis, the United Nations recently said that it will not abandon the people of Afghanistan in this difficult situation.
