Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images
- The Taliban is begging for the release of Afghanistan's frozen money.
- Afghanistan's central bank had stashed nearly $10 billion in reserves, some of which is held in the US.
- Meanwhile, the country is facing a tremendous economic and humanitarian crisis.
The Taliban is begging for the release of Afghanistan's frozen funds as the country's economy falls into a full-blown crisis, Reuters reported on Friday.
"The money belongs to the Afghan nation. Just give us our own money," the country's finance ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal said to Reuters. "Freezing this money is unethical and is against all international laws and values."
Haqmal promised that, in return for the money, the Taliban would respect the education of women and human rights, the report said.
Shah Mehrabi, a board member of Afghanistan's central bank, told Reuters that the "situation is desperate and the amount of cash is dwindling."
Since the collapse of the Afghan government in August, the Taliban has been unable to get its hands on the central bank's nearly $10 billion in reserves, some of which is held in New York City.
The money was frozen by the US after Afghanistan's previous government fell to the militant group, leaving the Taliban hamstrung and without sufficient funding.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan is facing a tremendous humanitarian disaster as the country readies for the cold winter months.
Earlier this week, the World Food Programme said more than half of the country's population - a breathtaking 22.8 million people - will be food insecure this winter.
Humanitarian aid officials blame the bleak figure on the country's spiraling economic crisis, a security dilemma, the COVID-19 pandemic, and droughts.