The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Taliban announced that Wednesday, August 31, a date which signifies when the last American soldier left Afghanistan last year, as a public holiday. The Taliban are going to celebrate the day all over Afghanistan.
The withdrawal of foreign forces led to the fall of the Western-backed government in Afghanistan.
Taliban officials announced on Tuesday that in the past year, Afghanistan’s export to 10 countries has reached 1 billion and 364 million dollars.
Nuruddin Azizi, the Acting Minister of Industries and Commerce of the Taliban, said that China has exempted tax of 98 items from Afghanistan.
According to Azizi, among others, about one million square meters of carpets and rugs were exported too.
Azizi, however, said that the amount of Afghanistan's exports to Uzbekistan has declined compared to the previous year.
Azizi stressed that talks are underway to increase exports from Afghanistan and attract more investments in the country.
He said that Turkey, China, United Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia have expressed interests in investment, particularly in the mining sector of Afghanistan.
Azizi said that in the current solar year, the Ministry of commerce and industries has issued 6,300 business licenses of which around 100 are issued to foreign companies.
According to him, in the latest development, Iran's commercial cargo was recently transported to Tajikistan through Afghanistan.
Taliban officials announced on Tuesday that the group has hired hundreds of experts and specialists in the Taliban’s Ministry of Finance. Hedayatullah Badri, the Taliban’s Minister of Finance, said that more than a thousand positions are vacant at the ministry.
With the fall of the previous government, the Taliban had dismissed hundreds of professional staff members of the Ministry of Finance.
The dismissed employees of the Ministry of Finance protested in front of the ministry in Kabul on June 11, 2022, and said that their salaries haven’t been paid yet. Protesters also said that prices of food items have increased in the market due to inflation, and they face a dire economic situation.
It seems that the Taliban have hired their own members in this ministry after firing employees of the Ministry of Finance in a collective move.
International community and the de facto authorities of Afghanistan need to continue to deliver humanitarian aid in order for 24 million Afghans to survive, said Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Griffiths remarks came at the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and he stated that humanitarians have stayed and delivered in Afghanistan in the year since the Taliban takeover. A $4.4 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan currently has a gap of $3.14 billion, he said.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths, who briefed ambassadors, reported on the ongoing hardships and uncertainty facing Afghans, nearly half of whom require aid relief to survive. “Afghanistan’s crisis is a humanitarian crisis, but it’s not only that. It’s an economic crisis. It’s a climate crisis. It’s a hunger crisis. It’s a financial crisis. But it’s not a hopeless crisis,” he said.
Griffiths, while stating that engaging with de facto authorities is “labour intensive”, explained that large-scale development assistance has been halted for a year in a country that was already facing severe levels of food insecurity and malnutrition, which have only deteriorated since then.
He added that no confidence in the domestic banking sector which has sparked a liquidity crisis, has affected aid delivery.
Griffiths also referred to the closure of school for girls and violation of women rights, adding, “In the 21st century, we should not need to explain why girls’ education and women’s empowerment are important to them, to their communities, to their countries, and indeed to all of us.”
The UN relief chief stressed that preserving basic service delivery alongside humanitarian assistance “remains the only way to prevent a catastrophe even greater than what we have seen these many months.”
Meanwhile, Markus Potzel, the Secretary-General’s Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan, reported on the UN’s ongoing engagement with the de facto authorities, as well as efforts towards promoting inclusive governance, rights and freedoms. He said the Taliban have been “ambiguous” as to the extent to which they want to engage, predicated on being in accordance with their interpretation of Sharia law.
Taliban officials forcefully displaced eight families from Tanbana village of Dara district of Panjshir province, local sources confirmed to Afghanistan International. Taliban members have accused these families of having ties with the National Resistance Front (NRF).
Earlier media reports confirmed that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion hit a Taliban vehicle in Tanbana village.
Meanwhile, reports from Khaja Bahauddin district of Takhar province confirmed that new "armed nomads" have been transferred to the district. The Taliban have recently ordered the residents of two villages, "Lala Guzar" and "Katakjar", in the district to evacuate these areas.
Local residents said that the Taliban is relocating families from southern provinces and Pakistani tribal agencies to Khaja Bahauddin district.
The Taliban have not yet reacted to the reports.
Foreign forces destroyed more than 70% of the equipment, facilities, and technical devices of the Kabul airport when they left Afghanistan, claimed the Ministry of Transportation and Aviation of the Taliban.
Taliban officials said that Qatar and UAE have supported them for the repair of the equipment.
Taliban officials at the ministry of transportation and aviation of the group also added that in the past year, more than 3,000 flights have taken place inside and outside Afghanistan, through which the group generated a revenue of 4.5 billion Afghanis.
Taliban officials in the Ministry of Transport also added that discussions are underway with several international companies to manage the airspace of Afghanistan.