The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced to block Afghanistan’s access to the emergency reserve worth USD 460 million as the Taliban’s control over the country has drawn uncertainty for the country’s future, a media report said. The decision followed pressure from the Biden administration to ensure that the reserves did not reach the Taliban.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration also froze about USD 9.5 billion of Afghan reserves to keep cash away from the Taliban after it captured Afghanistan. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and personnel at the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had decided to freeze the accounts, Dawn reported citing The Washington Post. “Any central bank assets the Afghan government have in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban,” an administration official told the newspaper in a statement. According to the report, the US State Department, along with the White House, was consulted before the action adding that the Biden administration was contemplating other actions as well to pressure the Taliban, reported Dawn. Meanwhile, the United Nations has called on countries to stop all forcible returns of Afghan refugees, and it has announced that a third of its international staff would be temporarily relocated to Kabul owing to the “volatile situation in the country”.
President Joe Biden stated on Wednesday that he is committed to retaining American forces in Afghanistan until every American has been evacuated, even if it means staying over the deadline of August 31. He also pushed back against claims that the US should have done more to prepare for the evacuation and withdrawal, which was marked by violence and chaos as hundreds attempted to evacuate as the Taliban advanced.
