The financial warfare against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan continued yesterday with the announcement by the World Bank that it is halting financial support to Afghanistan, purportedly out of concern about the fate of women under Taliban rule. “We are deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and the impact on the country’s development prospects, especially for women,” World Bank spokesperson Marcela Sanchez-Bender said in a statement to CNN Business.
The World Bank had committed more than $5.3 billion for development projects in Afghanistan, according to the organization’s website. The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, administered by the World Bank, has raised more than $12.9 billion. “We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with our internal policies and procedures,” Sanchez-Bender said.
The World Bank announcement follows on from that of the IMF last week blocking Afghanistan’s access to IMF reserves and the U.S. Treasury Department announcement before that of the freezing of all Afghan assets in U.S. financial institutions.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program is appealing for $200 million to get food into Afghanistan before winter comes. “WFP is warning that a humanitarian catastrophe awaits the people of Afghanistan this winter unless the international community makes their lives a priority,” Anthea Webb, WFP deputy regional director for Asia and Pacific, told a UN briefing. “Once the snow sets in it is simply too late.”
Webb said the WFP needs to get supplies through mountain passages before they are blocked by snow. “Any further delay could be deadly,” she said.
