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$40m UN cash package arrives in Kabul

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the cash aid shipped to Afghanistan has exceeded all limits….reports Asian Lite News

Afghanistan’s Central Bank, Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) on Sunday announced that a fresh USD40 million cash package has reached Kabul amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis, and said this is the second cash shipment Kabul receives in less than four days, Khaama Press reported on Sunday.

Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the cash aid shipped to Afghanistan has exceeded all limits. The United Nations humanitarian aid had arrived in Kabul on Thursday (May 11), according to an announcement from Afghanistan’s central bank, and had been placed in a private commercial bank to the tune of USD40 million, Khaama Press reported.

The shipment was welcomed by Afghanistan’s central bank as part of the UN’s humanitarian monetary assistance, and the international community has urged to continue working together in all areas.

The use of these funds has always been a contentious issue, and donor nations, particularly the United States, have refrained from investigating their use.

The US Department of State had previously refused to disclose specifics regarding US payments to Afghanistan, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) had previously shown that the US donations to Afghanistan are not very clear, reported Khaama Press.

On the other hand, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) had earlier made it clear that money sent to Afghanistan is put in UN accounts at a commercial bank and will only be utilised by UN agencies for humanitarian aid and other supportive programmes in war-torn Afghanistan.

Years of conflict, poverty, and the broken and donation-based economy have forced ordinary people to suffer acute hunger and food shortage.

Since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the economy has failed to recover, keeping millions of people on the verge of starvation.

Qatar relations

Taliban urged Qatar to invest in Afghanistan and requested them to take steps for the improvement of relations between the international community and Afghanistan, reported Tolo News.

Taliban’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that officials of the Afghan interim government in their meeting with the Qatari delegation who visited Kandahar on Friday urged them to invest in Afghanistan. Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Kandahar and met with Taliban officials.

Mujahid said that the Taliban requested that Qatar take steps for the improvement of relations between the international community and Afghanistan, reported Tolo News.

“We asked Qatar for their continued cooperation and to take influential steps in diplomacy to eliminate the concerns and doubts existing in some countries,” he said.

However, some diplomats said that Qatar’s Prime Minister brought an important message to the Taliban, reported Tolo News. (ANI)

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