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Afghanistan

Person, Human, Text

Taliban names new central bank chief to access blocked funds

The Taliban administration’s former acting finance minister, Mullah Hidayatullah Badri, has been appointed as governor of Afghanistan’s central bank, a finance ministry spokesman said. Badri, who acted as the Taliban’s finance minister and oversaw budgets after they regained power in 2021, had already taken up his new role, finance ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal told […]

Swiss-based trust reviews options for $3.5bn frozen Afghan assets

The board of the Swiss-based trust fund managing some $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan central bank assets met for a second time last month, one of its trustees said, and discussed options for disbursing funds in line with achieving monetary stability. The frozen central bank reserves were transferred from Washington into the “Fund for the […]

Taliban targets foreign funding for projects up to $1bn

Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration has set up a consortium of companies, including some in Russia, Iran and Pakistan, to create an investment plan focusing on power, mining and infrastructure, the acting commerce minister said. The consortium included 14 Afghan businessmen and his ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with the foreign companies who would send […]

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  • Analysis

Aftershocks: Afghan economy crumbles as disaster strikes

The Taliban spent two decades fighting and brokering with Western powers to secure their demands for US-backed troops to leave Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion. But after storming back to power with a rapid military campaign in August 2021, the Islamist group has turned to the same governments with an urgent appeal for aid after […]

Taliban agrees to have UAE run Afghan airports

The Taliban will sign an agreement with the United Arab Emirates on operating airports in Afghanistan, the group’s acting deputy prime minister said today, after months of talks with the UAE, Turkey and Qatar. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said that his administration was renewing an airport ground handling agreement with the UAE. It was not […]

Heavy rain and floods in Afghanistan kill 22

Heavy rain and flooding has killed 22 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and damaged crops in Afghanistan, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, a disaster management official said today. The Taliban government, struggling to cope with the disaster that has affected more than a third of its provinces, will approach international relief organisations for […]

Afghan economy ‘dire’ as household incomes shrink

The outlook for Afghanistan’s economy is dire with per capita income having fallen by over a third in the last four months of 2021 after the Islamist Taliban seizedpower and foreign forces withdrew, the World Bank said. “One of the poorest countries in the world has become much poorer,” said Tobias Haque, World Bank senior […]

Guterres urges unconditional funds for Afghanistan aid

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan had “deteriorated alarmingly” and urged donors toprovide “unconditional and flexible funding” towards its $4.4 billion appeal for aid. Opening a high-level pledging conference, he said the Afghan economy had all but collapsed since the Taliban takeover in August and nine million Afghans […]

Iran summons Afghan envoy after protesters’ attack

Iran summoned the Afghan envoy to Tehran, Iranian state TV reported, afterprotesters threw rocks at Iranian diplomatic missions in Kabul and Herat over what they called “mistreatment of Afghan refugees” in the Islamic Republic. The protests began after videos posted on Twitter in recent days showed young Afghan refugees in Iran being harassed and humiliated […]

$600m projects frozen as Taliban issues school ban for girls

The World Bank has put four projects in Afghanistan worth $600 million on hold amid concerns over a decision by the country’s ruling Islamist leaders to ban girls from returning to public high schools, the bank said. The projects, to be funded under the revamped Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, were being readied for implementation by […]

Huge surge in measles as Covid hits jab campaigns

Measles cases jumped by 79 percent in the first two months of this year compared to 2021, after COVID-19 and lockdowns disrupted child vaccination campaignsaround the world, according to data from UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO). In January and February, there were 17,338 measles cases reported worldwide, up from 9,665 in the same […]

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U.S. asset freezes worsen Afghan women’s suffering

The United States, as well as the Taliban authorities, is contributing to the suffering of women in Afghanistan through asset freezes, U.N. independent experts said on Monday. The United Nations and foreign governments, including Washington, have condemned moves by the Taliban to backtrack on women’s rights commitments such as on girls’ education in the months […]

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World Bank to push ahead with some Afghan projects

The World Bank has resumed work on three projects in Afghanistan focused on health, agriculture and livelihoods, but will maintain a hold on some $150 million for education projects, two sources familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The multilateral development bank had put all four projects, valued at around $600 million, on hold in late […]