Afghan Acting PM Makes Plea for Aid Ahead of U.S.-Taliban Talks

Taliban co-founder and interim Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, said Saturday that his government will "not intervene" in other countries' domestic issues and asked international organisations to keep providing relief to the war-torn country.

Hassan Akhund's speech, which was his first to the nation since the Taliban seized power in August, was broadcast on state television ahead of a meeting between the US and the Taliban in Doha next week.

Hassan Akhund said in a roughly 30-minute speech, "We assure all countries that we will not intervene in their internal problems, and we wish to have excellent commercial connections with them."

"We're drowning in our troubles," he continued, "and we're trying to find the strength to pull our people out of their misery and hardships with God's help."

After toppling the previous US-backed administration on August 15, the Taliban seized Kabul, prompting Washington to quickly withdraw its troops from the country after a 20-year conflict.

On September 7, Hassan Akhund was named Prime Minister of Afghanistan's interim government. His government confronts a number of obstacles, including rebuilding the country's ailing economy, which has been deprived of international help, which used to account for 75% of the national budget under previous US-backed governments.

Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, inflation and unemployment have risen, and the country's banking sector has crumbled. The financial crisis was exacerbated when the United States froze roughly $10 billion in assets kept in reserve for Kabul, and the situation worsened after the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund cut off Afghanistan's access to funds.

In an open letter, Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi urged the US Congress to return Afghan assets that had been blocked by Washington.

The United Nations' aid agencies have warned that Afghanistan is facing a grave humanitarian disaster, with more than half of the country's 38 million people set to go hungry this winter.

"We encourage all international charity groups not to withhold their aid and to assist our fatigued nation... so that the people's concerns can be solved," Hassan Akhund stated in his speech, claiming that the country's problems were caused by previous regimes.