United States announced this Friday that it is canceling the talks with the taliban on Taste, where they addressed key economic issues. The reason is because the Islamist rulers of Afghanistan have prohibited the afghan girls go to the secondary schools from the country.
“We have canceled some of our commitments, including meetings scheduled in Doha on the occasion of Doha Forumand we have made it clear that we see this decision as a possible turning point in our commitment,” said a spokesman for the Department of State.
The Taliban on Wednesday backtracked on its earlier commitment to open secondary schools to girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up to reopen them.
The U-turn shocked many, leaving students in tears and sparking small protests from girls in Kabul. It also drew condemnation from humanitarian agencies and foreign governments.
“They’re definitely shooting themselves in the foot,” he said. Graeme Smithprincipal consultant for International Crisis Groupabout the decision on the girls education.
Effects of the decision
The cancellation of the talks is the first concrete sign that the Taliban’s recent moves on human rights and inclusion could directly affect the will of the international community to help the Taliban group, some of whose leaders are under US sanctions.
“His decision was an inexplicable and deeply disappointing reversal of commitments to the Afghan people, first of all, and also to the international community,” the spokesman told Reuters.
The Afghan economy is in check
The United States and the Afghan rulers were discussing in Doha economic issues such as the Afghan central bank independenceand the emission of Afghan currency and ticket printing.
They were also discussing the option of creating a humanitarian clearinghouse to free up cash and hundreds of millions of dollars of funds currently sitting in a World Bank Trust Fund which is intended for the education sector in Afghanistan, according to the three sources.
“Tragic” consequences for the Taliban
The measure shows the obstacles that the Taliban administration faces in accessing the foreign aid and release the banking sector. The foreign exchange shortage has fed the inflation and has worsened economic crisis.
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The Taliban have also been unable to access billions of dollars in foreign reservesas governments, including the United States, refuse to fully acknowledge them.
In addition to the crippled financial system, the sharp drop in development funding that once amounted to billions of dollars and helped the Afghan government function has now exacerbated food shortages and poverty.