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Kabul residents struggling due to price rise, medicine shortage under Taliban rule: Report
Vegetable prices have risen by 50% while fuel prices are up by 20 to 40% in Afghanistan's capital city, the report said.
Residents of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, are facing issues such as rising food and fuel prices, shortage of medicines, restrictions on cash withdrawal etc. under the Taliban regime post its August 15 power grab in the country, according to a report by Russia's TASS news agency.
The rise in food prices in Afghanistan, TASS said, is due to imports from the neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. “Flour prices up by 30 per cent, vegetable costs up by 50 per cent. It is difficult to find certain cereals, while many require pharmaceuticals,” a resident of the Afghan capital was quoted as saying.
Fuel prices, too, have risen significantly, another Kabul resident, a driver, said. “Gasoline prices have increased by 20 to 40 per cent as against those during early August,” the driver said, referring to the time when the Ashraf Ghani-led government was still in power, though it was under tremendous pressure from Taliban forces advancing rapidly towards the city. “People who support their daily needs by driving taxis and small shuttle buses hardly earn anything because of the fuel price hike,” he further said.
Restrictions imposed on withdrawal of cash from banks have led to further complications, the reported stated. Not more than 20,000 Afghanis (national currency) can be withdrawn from banks, the regime has ruled.
“The issue of survival is now at the forefront, and the threat of misery is the primary cause of our despair,” yet another resident said.
This is for the second time when the Taliban has come to power in the war-torn nation. Its' first rule, from 1996 to 2001, ended at the hands of the US-led forces which arrived here following the 9/11 attacks. The United States completed the pullout of all its troops in Afghanistan on August 30, a day before self-imposed August 31 deadline.
(With ANI inputs)
