Taliban FM asks US Congress to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets

The interim Taliban government Wednesday wrote an open letter to the members of the US Congress, urging them to take “responsible steps towards addressing the humanitarian and economic crisis unfolding” in the war-torn country, Anadolu Agency said. 

The letter, signed by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, said such steps will open doors for future relations, unfreeze assets of Afghanistan’s Central Bank and lift sanctions.

Over $9 billion Afghan foreign assets have been frozen by the US after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in August following the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.

it was “quite surprising that with the announcement of the new government, the administration of the US slapped sanctions on the assets of our central bank.”

Since the signing of the Doha Agreement, he said the interim Taliban government “no longer find ourselves in direct conflict with one another nor are we a military opposition, what logic could possibly exist behind the freezing of our assets?”

The interim government, said Muttaqi, is of the “belief that freezing Afghan assets cannot resolve the problem at hand neither is it the demand of the American people, hence your government must unfreeze our capital.”