Amrullah Saleh blames Pak for Afghanistan's economic crisis, says Taliban is their puppet

Former vice-president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, on Monday, lambasted Pakistan for exacerbating Afghanistan’s incumbent crisis, including its depleting foreign exchanges. As the financial condition of the war-torn country continues to plummet, Saleh pointed out Islamabad’s role, asserting that the Talibs were nothing but “a puppet show controlled by Rawalpindi". Notably, hundreds of thousands of Afghan natives have been pushed to the brink of hunger and homelessness following the Taliban takeover on August 15 this year. 

Taking to Twitter, the Afghan politician said that mismanagement by the country’s de factor rulers have increased forex crisis & monetary issues. “The incompetent leadership of the Taliban reduced the Shahzadeh Palace, the largest currency and currency market in the country, to a sub-branch of the Peshawar Memorial Square,” he wrote. He buttressed his stance by saying under the Talib rule, the venue for bulk exchange has been shifted to Chawk Yadgar of Peshawar.

'Full proxy rule in motion'

“For the Taliban, foreign policy is defined by the Quraysh, security by Bajwa, anti-historical by Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Haqqani, and Afghan studies by Imran Khan,’ he said. 

“There are currently no major monetary transactions in Kabul, and Pakistan is granting Afghan businessmen a five-year visa and permanent residency. The process of completing proxy and protected governance is underway,” he further added. 

This comes amidst a financial crisis in the country that has ensued as a result of a sudden power overhaul by the Taliban. Repeated sanctions and embargoes by the US have prompted the banks to collapse and foreign exchange to plummet. Meanwhile, droughts have worsened the situation, prompting the mass migration of natives. According to a UN report, more than 22 million people in the Asian country face acute food shortages as winter takes hold in the country. Notably, since the Kabul takeover, the US has frozen over US$9 billion of Afghanistan’s hard currency assets, while both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank halted its access to their humanitarian aid. Several reports of material aid is restricted to the outskirts of the country by Talibs also surfaced. 

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP/Amrullah Saleh/Facebook