Time: Today, in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, Chinese strategists are thinking bigger, and eyeing deals to exploit Afghanistan’s mineral deposits. An Afghan parallel to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor—the $50 billion development of factories, power plants and pipelines from Kashgar in Xinjiang province to the Pakistani port of Gwadar in the Persian Gulf—might
New York Post: Between 2002 and 2019, American taxpayers spent at least $9 billion to eliminate or transform the poppy fields that produced almost all of the world’s heroin — but instead ended up tripling that production, quadrupling the acreage covered by the deadly flowers, and intensifying the insurgency that plagued the country. As a
Farangis Najibullah Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 28, 2021 Ahmad Dawood has barely left his house on a quiet backstreet in Kabul’s Khairkhana neighborhood since Taliban militants marched triumphantly into the Afghan capital on August 15, the same day that President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad. Just two days later, a gun-wielding militant ordered the 24-year-old
Rob Garver VOA News August 27, 2021 WASHINGTON – Steering Afghanistan’s economy would be a formidable task for anyone, which is why economists and other experts expressed dismay this week when the country’s Taliban leaders named Mohammad Idris, a relatively obscure figure from within the movement, to head Da Afghanistan Bank, the country’s central bank.
Lisa Schlein VOA News August 25, 2021 GENEVA – The World Food Program is urgently appealing for $200 million to purchase and pre-position food for millions of Afghans before the winter snows cut off access roads to them. Sizzling summer temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius mask the hardships that lie ahead for the
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 24, 2021 There has been a good deal of speculation about how the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and the dramatic change of power there will affect Central Asia’s relations with the big powers. Some say Russia’s presence in the region will be strengthened, or perhaps China’s,
New York Post: The Ghani family likes to live in style. Just a week after Ashraf Ghani cowardly abandoned his country for the luxury confines of Dubai (reportedly with $169 million in cash shoved in a helicopter), it turns out both of his kids live in luxury while women in their homeland live in terror
Rob Garver VOA News August 22, 2021 WASHINGTON – As the Taliban take power in Afghanistan for the first time in 20 years, Afghans face not only a humanitarian crisis but also an economic crisis that threatens to make an already dire situation considerably worse. But just how bad things can get, and how much
Press TV August 21, 2021 The Taliban have barred employees from entering government buildings in Kabul, one week after the militant group took over the capital. Government buildings, banks, passport offices, schools and universities have been largely closed since the Taliban seized Kabul on August 15. A government employee, identified as Hamdullah, told AFP, “I
CNBC: For many Afghans, this week has laid bare the worst-case scenario for a country running on legacy financial rails: A nationwide cash shortage, closed borders, a plunging currency, and rapidly rising prices of basic goods. In some ways, it’s a perfect test case for the usefulness of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. CNBC spoke with