US election could decide fate of 70,000 Afghans
The Taliban, an ultraconservative Islamic political group, retook control of Kabul a little more than three years ago, dashing many Afghans’ hopes for a tolerant, democratic government.
Those who remain in Afghanistan are resorting to desperate measures, as household items are going up for sale on roadsides around the country.
“Many people are selling off whatever valuable they have,” said Nematullah, a shopkeeper in Kabul, RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi reported.
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For some, it is about survival, earning enough to feed their families each day. Others will use the money to flee their homeland and its new fundamentalist rulers.
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“People are desperate. There are no jobs and no money. People don’t have any other choice,” said Nematullah.
Hundreds of Afghans stand along dusty roadsides in the capital, Kabul, desperately trying to sell their meagre possessions, the report said.
Many offered used pots, plates, and cups that are piled up on bedsheets. Others sold tattered mattresses and old rugs or hope someone will buy their television or refrigerator.
“There are no jobs and we don’t have any money,” said Haji Aziz, an unemployed cook who stands by a heap of kitchen utensils for sale along a busy road in downtown Kabul.
“I’m trying to sell whatever I can so I can feed my family,” said Aziz, a weary, middle-aged man who is the sole breadwinner for his family of nine, the reports said.
He is among millions of Afghans who are reeling from the economic shocks of the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, an impoverished, war-scarred country of some 38 million people, the report said.
Many businesses and stores remain closed. Government workers, many of whom have gone into hiding, have been unpaid. Thousands of people line up outside banks and ATMs as armed Taliban fighters attempt to keep order.
Since the militant group’s capture of Kabul on August 15, residents have been hit by soaring food prices and cash shortages. Inflation has surged and the value of the national currency, the afghani, has plummeted.
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