A year on, Afghans pay price of US aggression

KABUL－After another miserable day, 11-year-old Alyas called out at the top of his voice in a Kabul street. As the sun set, he took his last opportunity to sell what remained of the melting ice cream in his cart.

"I'd rather be at school instead of selling ice cream on the street," Alyas said. Since last July, he and his elder brother have dropped out of school to work in the street. However, their average income of less than 60 Afghanis ($0.68) a day looks like a drop in the bucket in face of rising prices.

As poverty and unemployment rise across the country, the number of beggars in the Afghan capital Kabul grows every day. Some 3 million Afghan children like Alyas have dropped out of school to earn money to support their families.

Mohammad Hassan Khan farms about 4 hectares in the eastern Khost Province, or he used to. Today, there is no water for his fields, fertilizers must be imported and the prices are too high for anyone to afford, so he is now a porter in the streets of the capital.

Afghanistan, which is in urgent need of postwar reconstruction, has been facing a worsening humanitarian crisis, economic depression and terrorist attacks since the Taliban takeover on Aug 15 last year. The US, which hastily withdrew from Afghanistan in disregard of its responsibilities and obligations, deserves much blame for the mess it left behind.

"We reported late last year that an estimated 97 percent of Afghans could be living in poverty by mid-2022, and regrettably, that number is being reached faster than anticipated," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Programme, earlier this year.

The United Nations humanitarian chief for Afghanistan warned that unless donors provide $2.6 billion very soon, the country faces "pure catastrophe" over the coming winter with millions of lives at stake.

Ramiz Alakbarov told a virtual news conference from Kabul that the UN's $4.4 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan this year has received only about $1.8 billion, leaving a $2.6 billion gap in funding for desperately needed food and other aid.

Afghanistan is facing an economic downturn. A frozen banking system and liquidity shortage mean that as many as 80 percent of people are in debt. Assets worth more than $9 billion have been frozen by the US as part of its sanctions against the new government.

In addition, 20 years of war resulted in severe shortages of infrastructure, power supplies and professionals.

Abdul Nasir Rishtia, chief executive of Afghanistan's steel mills union, said 5,000 steel mills in Afghanistan are facing a shortage of key technical personnel.

"The United States has brought death and blood to Afghans for 20 years. The tragedy they made here is still going on," Najibullah Jami, a professor at Kabul University, said.

During the 20-year war, the US chose to fight terrorism according to its own geopolitical goals, which led to an increase in the number of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.

"If the interest of the United States requires, it will add any group in the list of terrorists and if its interest requires to exclude a group from the list, it will also do so," said Abuzar Khapalwak Zazai, another Kabul University professor, adding that the US has left the Afghan people in a difficult position to get out of.

Heavy rains have also added to the difficulties in the country. Flash floods killed at least 31 people and left dozens missing in northern Afghanistan, The Associated Press quoted the Taliban's state-run news agency as saying on Monday.

The Bakhtar News Agency said the flooding took place on Sunday in northern Parwan Province. At least 100 people remained missing on Monday, the report said, and a search and rescue operation was underway.

Xinhua - Agencies