Frozen Afghan Assets Slow Economic Recovery, Taliban Foreign Ministry Spokesman Says

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Taliban administration’s Foreign Ministry, said that the continued freezing of Afghanistan’s assets, sanctions and other barriers have slowed the country’s development and economic recovery. He described these as a failure by the international community to fulfill its responsibilities.

Speaking to ITV News, Balkhi said the Taliban administration had carried out its responsibilities “well” and that Afghanistan was on a positive path, but he said countries around the world had failed to meet their obligations.

He claimed foreign powers were holding Afghanistan’s assets as a political tool to, in his words, pressure the Afghan people because they had not yielded to those powers’ demands.