Crumbling from within

 

Crumbling from within

Dr. Jassim Taqui

DG Al-Bab Institute for Strategic Studies

Islamabad, September 2, 2021: The Taliban(T) has done it through military means. The T is controlling most of Afghanistan. All forces of resistance fell like a house of cards. Yet Ahmad Massod, Amrullah Saleh, and the Northern Alliance continue to hold on in Panjshir Valley.

While the T is surrounding the Panjshir Valley in a bid to storm it at any time, the T has failed to address the basic needs of the Afghans. The financial institutions have crumbled as the T could not have access to over $10 billion of assets outside Afghanistan. Thus the foreign donors are alarmed about an impending humanitarian crisis.

Two weeks since the T’s sweep into Kabul brought a chaotic end to 20 years of warfare, the T has yet to name a new government or reveal how they intend to rule.

In an administrative vacuum, prices have soared and crowds have gathered at banks to withdraw cash.

Heavily armed fighters have imposed control on the capital, but the T officials were grappling with keeping hospitals and government machinery running following the end of a huge airlift of foreigners and Afghans who had helped Western forces.

The new, T-appointed central bank head has sought to reassure banks the group wants a fully functioning financial system but has so far given little detail on how it will supply funds for it.

Qatar came to the rescue by sending technical experts to discuss resuming operations at Kabul airport, currently inoperable.

Under these circumstances, the T would crumble from within.