ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations called for the lifting the “unjustified freeze” on Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves during a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.
Afghanistan plunged into economic crisis when its Western-backed administration collapsed in mid-August as the Taliban took control. The takeover triggered the suspension of billions of dollars in international assistance to the country’s aid-dependent economy, while the US blocked Kabul’s access to more than $10 billion in Afghan central bank assets.
While the UN last month announced setting up a special trust fund to provide urgently needed cash to Afghans, Islamabad’s UN envoy, Ambassador Munir Akram told the UN Security Council more help was needed to avoid a humanitarian disaster.
“We trust that this and similar mechanisms will be stepped up quickly to scale up the flow of money and stabilize the Afghan economy, and that the unjustified freeze of Afghanistan’s assets will be lifted soon,” Akram said, adding that cash was needed to revive Afghanistan’s economy, pay salaries, restore small businesses and to revive the country’s banking system.
The immediate challenge in Afghanistan, he said, is the dire humanitarian and economic crisis, as half the population — 28 million people — face acute food insecurity, which will be exacerbated by the coming harsh winter conditions.
“The consequences of major humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan will be horrendous,” Akram said.
The Pakistani envoy’s plea came after Afghanistan’s government called on the US Congress to release the Afghan assets.
In an open letter on Congress members, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said on Wednesday said the Taliban administration had managed to bring political stability and security to Afghanistan since August but the economic situation is worsening humanitarian challenges.
He said the biggest challenge of Afghans was currently financial insecurity and “the roots of this concern lead back to the freezing of assets of our people by the American government.”
Pakistan calls for lifting of ‘unjustified freeze’ on Afghan assets
https://arab.news/99q57
Pakistan calls for lifting of ‘unjustified freeze’ on Afghan assets
- US blocked Afghanistan’s access to more than $10 billion in central bank assets after the Taliban takeover in August
- Afghanistan’s government pleaded with US Congress on Wednesday to release the Afghan assets
TV reporter dies after falling from rooftop during Pakistan kite-flying festival
- Pakistan's Lahore marked the Basant festival on Feb. 6-8 after the Punjab government lifted an 18-year-old ban on kite flying
- Malik Zain, a reporter affiliated with GNN news channel, fell from a four-storey building while flying a kite, Lahore police say
ISLAMABAD: A television reporter died after falling from a rooftop while flying a kite during the Basant spring festival in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police and hospital authorities confirmed on Sunday.
Pakistan's Lahore marked the Basant festival on Feb. 6-8 after the Punjab provincial government this year lifted a ban on kite flying after 18 years, with extensive safety measures in place.
The festival, which marks the onset of spring, was banned in 2008 after deaths and injuries to motorcyclists and pedestrians from stray kite strings, sometimes coated with metal to make them more formidable in mid-air battles.
Malik Zain, a reporter affiliated with private news channel GNN, fell from the rooftop of a building during the final day of Basant celebrations in the eastern Pakistani city, according to police.
"Lahore journalist Malik Zain died after falling from the fourth floor while flying a kite in Gulshan-e-Ravi during Basant," the Lahore police said in a statement.
The reporter was shifted to the government-run Mian Munshi District Headquarters Hospital where he was pronounced dead, with cardiopulmonary arrest mentioned as the cause of death.
"Head injury due to fall from height," hospital authorities diagnosed in their report into Zain’s death.
The development came hours after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz extended timings for Basant till early Monday morning.
“I am pleased to announce that Basant celebrations timings are being extended till 5:00 AM tomorrow morning,” CM Nawaz said in an X post on Sunday, highlighting the festivity, unity and joy across Lahore.
“This extension is a reward for the people of Lahore for celebrating Basant with great discipline and for responsibly following all safety SOPs (standard operating procedures).”
The Punjab government banned the use of metallic or chemical-coated strings during the festival. Kites and strings had to bear individual QR codes so they could be traced, and motorcyclists had to attach safety rods to their bikes to fend off stray thread.
Some 4,600 producers had registered with the authorities to sell kites and strings ahead of the festival. Authorities had made it mandatory for owners to register rooftops with 30 or more revelers, while dozens of roofs had been declared off-limits after inspections.
