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Taliban govt's minister Muttaqi urges countries to restore diplomatic ties with Afghanistan

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 14 Sep 2021

Taliban govt's minister Muttaqi urges countries to restore diplomatic ties with Afghanistan

Image Credit: Video grab

Kabul: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has slammed the United States for severing financial assistance after the armed-group seized power in the country last month.

In his first public address since the militant group's takeover, acting Foreign Minister Amir Muttaqi said, according to Al Jazeera, that Taliban would not allow “any country” to impose sanctions or embargoes on Afghanistan, including the US.

“[We] helped the US until the evacuation of their last person, but unfortunately, the US, instead of thanking us, froze our assets,” he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

The US Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have snapped Afghanistan's access to funds after the country's democratically-elected government fell on August 15.

The Afghan economy is highly dependent on foreign aid and the Taliban regime has to deal with widespread liquidity crunch.

According to the World Bank, foreign aid makes up some 40 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product.

“Security is being maintained across the country,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

He stressed that Afghanistan was open for foreign investment and reiterated Taliban's stance to engage with all the countries.

He urged that the international community must open formal relations with the Taliban-led government as the war in the country is now over.

He also said that the Taliban government will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for armed groups to launch attacks on other countries, the report added.