Kabul residents worried about crashing economy as winter approaches
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Many Afghans have been selling possessions to buy food as the Taliban is unable to pay wages to civil servants. Also, the urban communities are facing food insecurity similar to rural areas
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the country has been struggling to battle poverty. Amid an economic crisis, residents of the Afghan capital city Kabul have revealed that they have been worried about the approach of winter.
"The winter is very cold right now and people do not even have the money to buy a kilo of gas, coal and wood and they are facing a lot of problems," said Masood Ahmad Bashiri, a Kabul resident.
Many Afghans have been selling possessions to buy food as the Taliban is unable to pay wages to civil servants. Also, the urban communities are facing food insecurity similar to rural areas.
"If foreigners help us this year, who will help us in the years to come? So, for this reason, we have to find a solution ourselves and build up our country," said another Kabul resident Esmatullah Atal.
Meanwhile, various aid agencies distributed food, blankets and cash to nearly 130 displaced families in Kabul. UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said that around 9 million Afghans are "just one step away from starvation." He further added that 700,000 people, mostly women and children, have been displaced this year alone.
The distribution was overseen by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Danish aid agency DACAAR.
"It's a story of hunger, of conflict, of poverty and now winter is coming as well. Afghans need help desperately and quickly," said Baloch.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also urged the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to resume financing support to Afghanistan for reconstruction.
Various financial institutions suspended their engagement with the country until there was clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government led by the Taliban.
Currently, banks are running out of money, civil servants have not been paid and food prices have surged.
The IMF said that Afghanistan's economy was set to contract up to 30 per cent this year. "Afghanistan is in need of revival on all fronts, and development is the top priority," said Wang.