- Afghans are worried about their future under Taliban rule.
- Wages are reduced or not paid at all.
- The prices of commodities are rising.
As a nurse in a major hospital in Kabul, Latifa Alizada supports her family, feeding her three young boys and her unemployed husband.
Now-since the Taliban entered the Afghan capital-she is also unemployed and worried about the future.
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The 27-year-old woman left her position at Jamhuriat Hospital because the hardline Islamic organization stated that it would not pay her salary and imposed regulations that forced her to wear a veil and isolate her from male colleagues.
“I left my job because there was no salary. There was no salary at all,” she said, holding the hands of her two boys chewing sweet corn cobs.
“If I go there, they will say:’Don’t wear this style of clothes. Don’t work with men. Work with women.’ This is impossible,” she said at a street market in Kabul.
“For us, there is no difference between men and women, because we are all medical workers.”
Soaring prices
Afghans like Ali Zada worry about the future under Taliban rule.
Food prices on the market have risen, fuel costs have risen, and opportunities for making money are becoming fewer and fewer.
The United Nations warned this week that the prices of basic commodities in Afghanistan are soaring, adding: “There are concerns about food shortages, rising inflation and currency devaluation, all of which are contributing to an increase in the humanitarian emergency in the country.”
Many government services are no longer operational, and the international community, which has long supported an aid-dependent economy, is hesitant to fund Afghanistan.
In some operating departments, the Taliban offer very different salaries.
A former customs official who asked not to be named for security reasons said he worked at the Spinboldak border crossing with Pakistan for more than seven years.
During the previous administration, his monthly income was about US$240, but the Taliban said they would only pay him US$110.
The Taliban said to him: “It’s up to you whether to continue working or resign.”
The official said he resigned after weighing his salary and the cost of long-distance commuting.
foreign exchange reserves
Large groups of people queuing to enter the bank to get cash are now commonplace in Afghanistan.
The country’s central bank can only obtain a small part of its usual financing, isolated from the international banking system, and cannot obtain the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
This means that cash is in short supply and the Taliban is implementing a withdrawal limit of $200 per person per week.
In the capital on Wednesday, about 150 men crowded outside a branch of the Kabul Bank in the midday sun, where government employees from the previous government opened accounts.
An armed security guard grabbed a cable and used it as a whip to prevent the crowd from becoming too noisy while waiting in line for one of the two ATMs.
Abdullah said that he set off overnight from Tahar province in the northeast bordering Tajikistan and arrived at the branch at dawn-but he was still behind the line at 12:00.
The 31-year-old former Army commando said: “The problem is that after the government collapsed, all banks were closed.”
He said that in the months before the Taliban took over in mid-August, some soldiers like him were unable to receive salaries.
“I have been in my position for three or four months. My salary is in the bank and I can’t get it,” he said.
‘many problems’
Other members of the security forces complained that they were not paid at all in the months before the Taliban took over.
A kitchenware shop owner in the capital declined to be named for safety reasons. He said he has no customers.
“Since the change, all business has stopped,” he said, sitting on a stool in front of the empty store.
“We are facing a lot of problems. People stay at home because they don’t have a job. No one can buy from us.”
Because of the high rent and almost zero income, he is worried about taking care of his family of five.
“We can’t find money to support ourselves. People care about how to find their meals, sooner or later. Everyone is worried about their future.”
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