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Afghanistan asks Washington for $537 million bailout
The Afghanistan government says it’s broke — so broke it’s asking the U.S. for an immediate $537 million bailout.
The Afghan government is blaming its financial woes on the stalemated election results. Secretary of America, John Kerry was in Afghanistan a month ago trying to arrange a unity government, but neither candidate is willing to step aside. Without a resolution, the Afghan government will be unable to prevent a full withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of this year.
The special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction, John Sopko, said that there are already reports of Afghan police cutting power to Kandahar due to a lack of funding.
Sopko said he believes the U.S. has built a government in Afghanistan that it can’t sustain. “We have predicted for a while that we have spent too much money, too fast and built an infrastructure that the Afghans cannot afford,” Sopko said.
He also warned that without the bailout, the Afghan government will have a difficult time keeping terrorists out of Afghanistan.
The warning comes as the Taliban is increasing pressure around Kabul, where it killed two American troops outside the U.S. embassy in a suicide bombing Tuesday.
The bailout request comes just a little less than four months after President Obama said, “The bottom line is, it’s time to turn the page on more than a decade in which so much of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate has denied reports claiming that Afghan dual citizens living abroad are now required to obtain an Afghan visa when returning to their home country.
Zia Ahmad Takal, the ministry’s head of public relations, said in a statement that no new decision has been made in this regard.
According to him, Afghans who travel to Afghanistan with a foreign passport, as before, do not need to obtain a visa if they present proof of their Afghan identity, and they may enter the country without a visa.
The Panjshir Media Office announced on Thursday that nearly 20,000 young people from the province have been employed across government and security institutions over the past two years, as part of efforts to expand job opportunities.
According to the statement, youths from Panjshir have joined the Islamic Emirate Army, the National Police, civilian departments within and outside the emirate’s structures, as well as the province’s rapidly growing mining sector.
The recruitment drive follows instructions from the leader of the Islamic Emirate, who—after a request from Panjshir officials during a governors’ conference in Kandahar—ordered the provincial governor to compile a list of eligible youths for placement in other provinces.
The media office said that in the current year alone, more than 1,000 Panjshir youths have been recruited into the National Police, while another 600 have joined the Islamic Army. Additionally, over 1,000 others have secured positions in civilian institutions, including domestic and international organizations, due to efforts by Governor Mohammad Agha Hakim.
Panjshir’s mining industry has also become a major source of employment. With new extraction and processing operations launched under Islamic Emirate directives, nearly 15,000 youths have been hired in areas ranging from mining to the trade of precious and semi-precious stones—marking the first time such large-scale opportunities have been available in the sector.
Officials added that thousands more young people are working on construction and development projects across the province.
Residents of Panjshir expressed appreciation for the increased attention from the Islamic Emirate’s leadership, saying many of their sons are now employed in security and civilian roles, particularly at checkpoints—something they believe has strengthened trust between the community and the government.
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