Afghanistan on verge of collapse
Afghanistan is facing a breakdown of its economic and social systems that risks turning into a humanitarian catastrophe, the European Union's foreign policy chief said yesterday.
Avoiding the worst-case scenario would require the Taliban to comply with conditions that would enable more international assistance, Josep Borrell wrote in a blog post.
"Afghanistan is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis and a socio-economic collapse is looming, which would be dangerous for Afghans, the region and international security," Borrell wrote.
"If the situation continues and with winter approaching, this risks turning into a humanitarian catastrophe," he wrote, adding that this could trigger mass migration into neighbouring states.
His comments came as Taliban supporters and senior figures held their first mass rally outside Kabul on Sunday, in a show of strength as they consolidate their rule of Afghanistan.
No foreign government has yet recognised the Islamist former rebels' rule, but their hold on power within the country is all but unchallenged seven weeks after they took the capital.
Yesterday's official victory gathering in Kohdaman township in the hilly outskirts of the capital was attended by 1,500 men and boys.
"This is the day we waited for," said Khalil Haqqani, the new minister for refugees who in 2011 was named as a designated terrorist by the United States with a $5 million bounty on his head. He is a prominent leader of the Haqqani militant network founded by his brother Jalaluddin.
"We have achieved our goal, but it requires protection," he said, with his rifle leaning against the lectern, boasting that the country has a "bright future" despite being shunned by international donors.
"My advice to the world is that they leave Afghanistan to Afghanistan."
Food prices in the country have jumped more than 50% since the Taliban took power in August as the freezing of $9 billion of Afghanistan's assets held in foreign central bank reserves and the withdrawal of foreign income stokes inflation.
Widespread reports of human rights abuses and the exclusion of girls from schools have dented optimism that the Taliban's approach has changed since it first ran Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's PM Imran Khan has said the United States government will "sooner or later" have to recognise the Taliban, which now rules Afghanistan.
In a televised interview with the Turkish-state affiliated TRT World, Khan stressed that if the US does not unfreeze the Afghan reserves, the country could face a "chaotic situation", and that the US has to come up with a solution.
Khan revealed that his government is currently in peace talks with some of the groups within the Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, and he further revealed that the talks are being held in Afghanistan and if reconciliation is achieved, members of the organisation would be "forgiven".
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