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IMF warns of ‘looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: September 17, 2021)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said it was deeply concerned with the economic situation facing Afghanistan and warned of a looming humanitarian crisis facing the country after last month’s takeover by the Islamic Emirate.

Addressing a press conference in Washington DC on Thursday, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice stated that the global lender’s engagement with Afghanistan remains suspended, which means IMF funding is on hold.

He said the immediate focus should be on helping the Afghan people by allowing the flow of remittances and small-scale transfers and providing aid to countries hosting Afghan refugees.

“Our engagement with Afghanistan has been suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government. We’re guided by the international community in terms of the recognition of the government in Afghanistan, and we don’t have that. So, the IMF program there, which you asked about, has been put on hold,” Rice said.

He noted “as we said last month, the country cannot access IMF resources, SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) and so on at this point. But again, I want to say that we stand ready to work with the international community to advocate for urgent actions to stall a looming humanitarian crisis.”

This comes as the United States has frozen some 9.5 billion U.S. dollars in assets of the country’s central bank since August 15.

Although the Afghan central bank has resumed operation, many banks have still remained closed, with worried residents seen lining up outside the bank outlets for cash withdrawal.

The ongoing cash shortage has not only made it difficult for the Afghan people to survive but has also limited the country’s business activities of all time.

Although an aid package of over one billion U.S. dollars has been pledged by the international community, one in every three Afghan people are suffering major food shortages as a result of soaring prices, the severe humanitarian crisis in the country, and the possibility of economic collapse across the country.

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Pakistan’s army claims TTP is using Afghan soil

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

Pakistan’s military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry claimed on Tuesday that there is “irrefutable evidence” of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) using Afghanistan against the country.

“There is irrefutable evidence of Afghan soil being used by the TTP […] recent terrorist incidents can be traced back to Afghanistan,” Sharif said while addressing a press conference.

Reaffirming the commitment on counter-terrorism efforts, Chaudhry said that Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to eliminate the terrorist network.

He stressed that the security forces would go to any extent possible against terrorists. However, the spokesperson noted that the first priority of the Pakistan Army was to maintain law and order in the country.

“The army chief has said that there’s no place for terrorists in Pakistan,” the spokesperson said while reassuring that steps are being taken to bring the miscreants to justice.

On the issue of Afghan refugees living inside Pakistan, he said: “Millions of Afghans are still living in Pakistan, while the country is fighting against terrorism. Pakistan has helped Afghan refugees, which the world has recognised.”

Highlighting that millions of Afghan citizens continue to reside in Pakistan, he revealed that more than 563,000 Afghans have been repatriated.

He said the law and order situation was deteriorating because of the Afghan citizens.

“Militants are spoiling the law and order situation in Balochistan, but the army is [acting as] a wall against the miscreants,” he noted.

The Islamic Emirate has previously denied the presence of TTP in Afghanistan and said that Pakistan’s security problem has nothing to do with Afghanistan.

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IEA’s supreme leader happy with ‘obedient’ ministers

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said on the last day of a three-day seminar on the coordination and regulation of specialist and religious universities in Kandahar that after the establishment of the Islamic Emirate, all the opponents were forgiven and they now live together like brothers.

Speaking at the seminar Monday, Akhundzada added that he is satisfied with the performance of his acting ministers as they always obey him.

“I am happy with my ministers and they are good people and always obey me. Obey, value and honor them because honor and obedience are not exclusive to the Amir [leader], but include all the commanders,” Akhundzada said.

He also said that the world wants to separate politics from religion, so that even in Islamic countries, scholars do not have a role in politics; but according to him in Afghanistan, scholars should have access to politics.

He asked scholars to follow the orders of the Islamic Emirate to encourage the nation to implement and obey the orders.

Ziaullah Hashimi, the spokesman of the Ministry of Higher Education, says that the three-day seminar brought together department heads, deputies and professors of the General Directorate of Specialist and Religious Universities of the Ministry of Higher Education.

The seminar started on Saturday and ended Monday.

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Kazakhstan Trade House opens in Afghanistan’s Herat province

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(Last Updated On: May 7, 2024)

Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan has officially opened in Herat province with the aim of increasing the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries.

Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Noorudin Azizi called the opening of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan a “positive and effective step” in strengthening and expanding trade relations between the two countries.

He stated that as a result of the trip of an Afghan delegation to Kazakhstan, Afghanistan’s exports to Kazakhstan have increased.

Meanwhile, Arman Yusintayev, head of the Kazakhstan Trade House in Afghanistan, highlighted that the aim of opening a trade house in Afghanistan is to increase the volume of trade exchanges between the two countries, adding Kazakhstan is interested in expanding trade relations with Afghanistan.

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