“The Taliban said Tuesday that they would not allow Afghans to leave the country,” CNN reports. Nor will they allow the removal of U.S. dollars, says the Washington Post:
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman, declared Tuesday the militants would take action against Afghans who try to carry dollars out of the country “by air or land.” He warned they would seize the cash.
The Soviets’ curtain was “iron.” And the Taliban’s will be?
“People are running out of cash, and everyone is waiting for banks to reopen,” one doctor said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Residents have watched the prices of gasoline and food, like flour and rice, climb. The local currency has tumbled since the Taliban returned to power this month on the heels of the U.S. military withdrawal.
While the militants told banks to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since their takeover more than a week ago, several residents said bank doors remained closed for much of the day. People shared photos on social media of long lines outside some banks in the afternoon, though it was unclear whether the banks had opened in the afternoon or people were waiting at the ATMs.
“We are inside our home since the Taliban took over,” said another Kabul resident, expressing worry over the rising prices. “We need a daily routine to be revived soon; otherwise there will be more serious concerns.”
President Joe Biden remains publicly committed to fully exiting the country by Aug. 31.
“The sooner we can finish, the better,” Biden said in a Tuesday press appearance. “Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops.”
But the president also said that meeting that deadline would require avoiding unforeseen disruptions and that it “depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who we’re transporting out.” He said that he asked the Pentagon and the State Department to draft contingency plans should the U.S. government have to shift its timeline.
Volunteer translator Fouzi Afshari is helping Afghans arriving in Virginia. She describes the situation for those remaining as “extremely chaotic … It is getting darker and darker.”
News coverage Tuesday showed an armed U.S. servicewoman chatting with female Afghan evacuees as she escorted them to a transport in Kabul. Two worlds are separated only by barbed wire and walls around the airport: the medieval one these Afghan women are fleeing and the modern one the American soldier inhabits. On one side, women are men’s prisoners.
I can’t stop looking at it.