AFGHANISTAN-WOMEN/PROTEST

Headline

Afghan women protest outside U.S embassy in Kabul, demand unfreezing of assets.

Intro

Burqa-clad Afghan women stage protest demonstration outside U.S embassy in Kabul to demand the US and International community to unfreeze their country’s assets immediately.

Story

Story: Dozens of burqa-clad Afghan women on Wednesday (January 26) staged a protest demonstration outside U.S embassy in Kabul to demand the US and International community to unfreeze their country’s assets immediately.

The protesters held banners and placards and chanted slogans while marching through streets before gathering outside the U.S embassy.  

They said that the US should not interfere with hijab and other such matter including the boys and girls education as those were the internal matter of Afghanistan.

“The international community should not harm Afghan people in the name of women’s rights. Those Afghan living abroad should not criticize the incumbent government despite they provide assistance to women, children and other poor people in Afghanistan. Those people who have other agendas are not working for the benefits of Afghan women,” activist, Zahida Mohammadi told protesters.

“Women were not slave of anyone. God gave us respect. We demand the International community to unfreeze our money as that money neither belong to the Taliban nor the government, but that are the assets of people of Afghanistan,”said protester, Ayat Bibi.

Another protester, Razia Bibi said the women were in support of new Taliban government in Afghanistan and that there were also other countries where boys and girls received education separately.   

“The US has no right to freeze the assets of Afghanistan using different tactics. As they (US) have said that the girls were not given permission for education in Afghanistan. The US should know that there are many countries on earth where girls and boys were getting education separately. If other countries also implement this rule to educate girls and boys separately then it should also be implemented in Afghanistan,”she said.

The U.S. has frozen nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation as it tries to keep a Taliban-led government from accessing the money.

Following the Taliban's takeover, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and US Federal Reserve cut off Afghanistan's access to international funds.

Unemployment, poverty and hunger have reached alarming levels in Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday (January 26)  Afghanistan was hanging by a thread with millions suffering extreme hunger, education and social services.