The end of US occupation of Afghanistan after nearly two decades of conflict has exposed the new challenges facing the Taliban regime, such as the formation of a government or the need to revive the economy.
The absence of a government since the insurgents took control of Kabul on August 15 has plunged Afghanistan into a dramatic liquidity crisis, with thousands of Afghans in front of the few banks open to try to obtain something cash.
“I’ve been coming to the bank every day for over two weeks and I have 250,000 Afghans (about $ 3,100) in my account, but I can’t retire because of the large number of people here. People really have problems because of the lack of cash, “he told Efe Mirwais in front of a branch in Kabul of Azizi Bank, where he has been queuing since 4 in the morning.
Abdul Rauf Magal has also been waiting in the morning in front of the bank, and says that everything is very chaotic, with constant pushes to try to enter the branch.
Most of the country’s banks remain closed since the Taliban took over Kabul, and the few that open allow the withdrawal of a maximum of $ 200 a week, a limit that has been imposed by authorities.
Matiullah, an employee of the International Bank of Afghanistan (AIB), also told Efe that ATMs remain out of service “for security reasons and because most of the business centers where they are located remain closed.”
Afghanistan has been in a state of utter confusion since the Taliban came to power, a process that took just over ten days and led to the cutting of international aid on which Afghanistan depends entirely. accounting for about 43% of its GDP, according to data from the World Bank.
A NEW GOVERNMENT
In the face of the uncertainty on the streets, the formation of a new government is essential for someone to take the reins of the country, something that will happen, according to the Taliban, very soon.
“The ground has been paved for the formation of the new government, which will be announced very soon, in a few days,” Islamist spokesman Bilal Karimi told Efe today. nor the list of ministers who will be part of the new Afghan Administration.
There are rumors that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, co-founder of the Taliban and head of the insurgents ’political office in Qatar, may be the next president of Afghanistan; and that the current leader of the Taliban, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, be above him as a kind of supreme spiritual leader of the country.
“Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada is currently the leader of the Islamic Emirate (as the Taliban call themselves), but it will be premature to say who will lead the new government,” he said.
MORE ATTACKS ON THE OPPOSING BASTION
As Taliban leaders finalize details for the consolidation of the new Islamist regime, their fighters intensified attacks in the northern Panjshir region, the only one of the 34 Afghan provinces not under their control, after of the failure of negotiations with opponents.
The Taliban launched attacks last night, which continued today, “from various directions and areas in the neighboring provinces of Parwan and Baghlan (…) but their attacks were repulsed and were unsuccessful,” he said. stated in a statement the spokesman for the so-called Panjshir National Resistance Front, Fahim Dashti.
For his part, Mullah Amir Khan Mutaqi, one of the Taliban’s top leaders, explained in a message that efforts to peacefully resolve the Panjshir problem “ended without any progress,” so now they have ready to fight.
Forces in Panjshir are led by former Afghan vice president Amrullah Saleh, a self-proclaimed new president of Afghanistan after fleeing the country during the capture of Kabul by former President Ashraf Ghani and Ahmad Massoud, the country’s son. late Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, “the lion of the Panjshir,” a legend for having faced the Soviets and the Taliban.