Live updates Afghans running out of money as Taliban bans taking dollars out of the country

Kabul residents struggled to find money Wednesday even after the Taliban ordered banks to reopen for the first time in more than a week amid rising prices and uncertainty.

The Islamist militants have reportedly ordered some mid-level bureaucrats at Afghanistan’s Finance Ministry and central bank to resume work, as the new regime faces a cash squeeze and a looming humanitarian crisis. The hasty departure of trained officials, journalists, human rights advocates and others is leaving the war-torn country lacking in expertise needed to govern, analysts say.

It is “time for people to work for their country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters Tuesday.

Prices of gasoline, flour and rice are soaring while many residents line up at the few ATMs still functioning. The World Bank, meanwhile, announced a halt to its funding of projects in Afghanistan.

Here’s what to know

President Biden reaffirmed his intent to complete the U.S. evacuation mission by Aug. 31, but he also ordered contingency plans if that cannot be accomplished â€" a position that stoked a new round of outrage and confusion from domestic and international allies.

Britain could end its evacuation mission as early as Wednesday, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing unidentified defense sources. Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed Tuesday to persuade Biden to delay the U.S. withdrawal.

The United States and allied countries flew approximately 19,000 people out of Kabul in a 24-hour window ending early Wednesday, the White House said. Since Aug. 14, the United States has helped evacuate more than 82,000 people.

Key updateEuropean countries move to end Kabul evacuation efforts ahead of U.S. withdrawal deadlineLink copied

European countries including France and Germany, indicated they would wind down efforts to evacuate at risk Afghans partners as a U.S. deadline for its troops to withdraw looms.

Speaking to an urgent session of the German parliament on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that its military airlift would end “within days.” Merkel did not expand further on the timeline, but German press reports have said that could be as soon as Thursday.

David Helmbold, a spokesman for the German military, said the airlifts were entering “the most demanding and dangerous hours” as the security situation worsens. “The safety of our soldiers and evacuees are equally central,” he said.

It came as French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune told C News TVs that it is “very probable” that France’s efforts to extract citizens and partners would also end Thursday.

Marcin Przydacz, a Polish deputy foreign minister, told the Associated Press that Poland had already ended its evacuation efforts.

“After a long analysis of reports on the security situation we cannot risk the lives of our diplomats and of our soldiers any longer,” he said.

Hungarian officials also said its airlifts were nearing an end after evacuating around 500 people.

The Biden administration has resisted pressure from European allies to extend its Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw its troops to allow for more time for evacuations. European officials say they will be unable to safely evacuate people after U.S. troops pull out.

As the window for military airlifts narrows, like Washington, European governments are facing fierce criticism for not acting sooner to save Afghans who put their lives at risk to support NATO forces and are particularly vulnerable as the Taliban takes control.

Merkel on Wednesday defended the decision not to pull out Afghan staff working on development with the German government sooner, saying that Berlin was dependent on its local staff for development work in the country to continue. “Many of them wanted to continue their work in Afghanistan,” she said. The end of the airlift “cannot mean the end of protecting local staff and others in need in Afghanistan,” she added.

Two African nations offer refuge to fleeing AfghansLink copied

African countries are stepping up, alongside other nations, to welcome a trickle of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban this week.

Rwanda will welcome nearly 250 students, faculty, staff and family members from a school in Kabul, the school’s president and co-founder said.

“Everyone is en route, by way of Qatar, to the nation of Rwanda where we intend to begin a semester abroad for our entire student body,” Shabana Basij-Rasikh, president of the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA), a private female boarding school, tweeted on Tuesday.

Basij-Rasikh said her “heart breaks” for her war-torn country but added that the Rwanda “resettlement is not permanent.”

“A semester abroad is exactly what we’re planning. When circumstances on the ground permit, we hope to return home to Afghanistan. For now, I request privacy for our community,” she added.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Education said the East African nation was looking forward to welcoming the SOLA community.

Elsewhere in Africa, Uganda said Wednesday that 51 Afghans have landed in the country, following a request from the United States to temporarily take in refugees from Afghanistan.

The men, women and children arrived “aboard a privately chartered flight at the Entebbe International Airport,” Uganda’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. Uganda is expected to temporarily host some 2,000 at-risk Afghans fleeing Taliban rule, according to Reuters.

“Uganda’s commitment to welcome Afghan evacuees should be applauded,” Allison Huggins deputy regional director for Africa of the Mercy Corps aid agency, said in a statement Wednesday. “But the task is enormous, and we must stand in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, who need support now more than ever.”

Afghan women’s soccer players, fleeing the Taliban, find refuge in AustraliaLink copied

A plane carrying more than 75 Afghan female soccer players, officials and relatives under threat from the Taliban left Kabul on Tuesday, bound for Australia, the first country to offer a haven in response to pleas from a multinational network of athlete advocates and human-rights lawyers.

Many more imperiled athletes remain in Afghanistan, and evacuation efforts are continuing around-the-clock, with outreach to multiple countries including the United States.

But the efforts are getting more challenging by the day, according to Haley Carter, a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and former assistant coach of the Afghan women’s team. Carter played a key role in orchestrating the initial evacuation, alongside Fifpro, the international soccer players’ union, and other advocates working to lobby governments to grant the athletes asylum.

Another 19,000 people evacuated from Kabul airport in previous 24 hours, White House saysLink copied

About another 19,000 people were evacuated from Afghanistan on U.S. military and coalition flights during a 24-hour period ending early Wednesday morning Eastern time, the White House said.

That figure includes about 11,200 evacuees leaving the international airport in Kabul on 42 U.S. military flights and about 7,800 people evacuating on 48 coalition flights, according to the White House. A breakdown of how many people were U.S. citizens was not provided.

The total figure is shy of the roughly 21,600 who were evacuated during the previous 24-hour period, which marked a record high in the effort.

Since Aug. 14, about 82,300 people have been evacuated on U.S. military and coalition flights, the White House said.

Key updateKabul residents are running out of cash and struggling with rising pricesLink copied

More than a week since banks closed in the wake of the Taliban takeover, ATMs are drying up in Kabul as Afghans, strapped for cash, worry about rising food prices.

The Islamist militants have now ordered people not to move dollars out of the country in the face of a national cash squeeze and a growing wave of displacement.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman, declared Tuesday the militants would take action against Afghans who try to carry dollars out of the country “by air or land.” He warned they would seize the cash.

Kabul residents told The Washington Post that they could only find one open ATM on Wednesday morning.

“People are running out of cash, and everyone is waiting for banks to reopen,” one doctor said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Residents have watched the prices of gasoline and food, like flour and rice, climb. The local currency has tumbled since the Taliban returned to power this month on the heels of the U.S. military withdrawal.

While the militants told banks to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since their takeover more than a week ago, several residents said bank doors remained closed for much of the day. People shared photos on social media of long lines outside some banks in the afternoon, though it was unclear whether the banks had opened in the afternoon or people were waiting at the ATMs.

“We are inside our home since the Taliban took over,” said another Kabul resident, expressing worry over the rising prices. “We need a daily routine to be revived soon; otherwise there will be more serious concerns.”

Afghanistan was already one of the poorest countries in the world and relied heavily on the influx of foreign aid, which the World Bank estimated last year made up about 43 percent of an economy battered by decades of conflict. That aid is now in jeopardy.

The World Bank halted funding on Wednesday for projects in Afghanistan â€" up to 30 percent of the country’s civilian budget â€" out of concern about the impact of the Taliban comeback.

Economist Dawood Niazi in Kabul said the future economy will depend on what kind of government the Taliban puts together.

“God forbid, if a government is announced that is not acceptable to the world, ... then the worst economic scenario is feared, which may push more people into the poverty,” he warned.

The Biden administration has cut off another key source of billions of dollars: the Afghan central’s bank’s reserves held in U.S. bank accounts. Wire transfer services have also paused operations, hitting remittances.

Britain’s top diplomat insists he didn’t go paddleboarding as Afghanistan fell because the sea was ‘closed’Link copied

LONDON â€" Britain’s embattled foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, found himself once again defending his ill-timed vacation to Crete â€" which came as the Taliban took over Afghanistan â€" saying he wasn’t swimming or paddleboarding when Kabul fell because the sea was, in fact, “closed.”

Last week, Raab faced calls to resign following his alleged failure to help evacuate interpreters who had worked for Britain.

“The stuff about me lounging around on the beach all day is just nonsense,” he said in an interview with Sky News. “The stuff about me paddleboarding is just nonsense. The sea was actually closed; it was a red notice,” he said, adding that he remained focused on urgent meetings during his island sojourn.

Raab told the broadcaster that about 2,000 people have been flown to Britain from Kabul in the last 24 hours and that “the system is operating at full speed.”

He added that, in hindsight, he wouldn’t have taken the vacation. He returned home Aug. 15 after allegedly failing to make a crucial phone call that would have accelerated evacuations on Aug. 13.

Raab’s defense prompted the word “CLOSED” to trend on Twitter as observers pounced on his remarks.

Biden pushes to complete Afghan evacuation by Aug. 31 â€" but orders backup planLink copied

President Biden on Tuesday reaffirmed his intent to complete the U.S. evacuation mission in Afghanistan by Aug. 31, but he also ordered contingency plans if that cannot be accomplished â€" a position that stoked a new round of outrage and confusion about the United States’ exit from a two-decade war.

The result was looming uncertainty over whether the United States would finalize its exit within a week, as Biden wants, as well as intensifying anger from would-be Afghan refugees, U.S. allies worried about getting their own personnel out of the country and veterans concerned about the fate of those who helped the war effort.

Speaking at the White House after meeting virtually with leaders of the Group of Seven large industrialized democracies, Biden said that the United States was on pace to wrap up its efforts in Afghanistan by Aug. 31 and that any extension risked terrorist attacks.

Former British marine and animal rescuer given permission to evacuate Kabul after tussle with U.K. governmentLink copied

LONDON â€" A former British marine campaigning to be evacuated from Taliban-held Afghanistan alongside his staff and beloved rescue animals has been given the green light to fly out of Kabul airport â€" days after he accused the British Defense Ministry of blocking his exit by not granting the clearance needed to travel.

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace responded to mounting backlash and confirmed that Pen Farthing, who served in Afghanistan with the British military and founded the animal rescue charity Nowzad in 2007, had been cleared to leave the country.

The announcement followed days of back-and-forth between Farthing and the British government over how 71 people and 200 animals could be flown to Britain. At one point, talks completely broke down.

As Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Farthing vowed not to evacuate until he was able to take his staff and animals with him. Using social media to raise awareness, he appealed to the public to help him get the funds to charter a flight to Britain and called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to support the mission.

While Johnson said officials would “do everything we can to help,” the Defense Ministry later said the animals would have to stay behind and that officials needed to “prioritize people over animals,” even though the funds were raised and transportation to the airport was arranged.

“My direct line to the MoD has been cut off. They have left me, one of their own, out here on their own,” Farthing said Monday. “I served my country for 22 years, and right now they have turned their backs on us,” he said.

“No one has the right in this humanitarian crisis to jump the queue,” Wallace said Tuesday. But he confirmed that if Farthing arrived at the airport with his animals and staff, they would be given a slot to take off.

Key updateBritish evacuation mission could end as early as Wednesday night Link copied

Britain’s Kabul airlift could end as early as Wednesday evening, probably stranding at least hundreds of vulnerable people, as the Taliban becomes increasingly belligerent toward Afghans attempting to flee the war-torn country.

British troops are aiming to withdraw at least 24 hours ahead of the U.S. military, which is thought to need two to three days to close down its operations at Kabul airport, the Guardian reported, citing unidentified defense sources. President Biden on Tuesday reaffirmed his intent for U.S. forces, which are a critical guarantor of the airport’s security, to leave Afghanistan by Aug. 31.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab would not give a precise departure timeline when asked by reporters on Wednesday morning, but he told BBC’s “Breakfast” that “it’s clear that the troops will be withdrawn by the end of the month.”

Britain has evacuated 10,291 people since Aug. 13, including 1,833 people in the past 24 hours, London said Wednesday. (Since Aug. 14, the United States has helped 70,700 people leave.)

“Almost all” single-nationality British citizens have managed to leave Afghanistan, Raab told Sky News. “What remains are rather complex cases, large family units where one or other may be documented or may be clearly a national, but it’s not clear whether the rest of them are.”

In a virtual meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven nations on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed in his bid to persuade Biden to delay the U.S. withdrawal to allow for more evacuations. Speaking at the meeting, Biden said that any extension of the August deadline risked terrorist attacks, with the Taliban warning it wouldn’t tolerate foreign forces in the country beyond that date.

The Biden administration’s refusal to extend the deadline reportedly prompted significant anger among British legislators, with one unidentified lawmaker telling the Guardian that relations between London and Washington “are about to enter their lowest point” in over half a century.

Pelosi warns House members not to travel to Afghanistan after two lawmakers make unauthorized tripLink copied

Two members of Congress made an unauthorized whirlwind trip to Kabul early Tuesday, leaving less than 24 hours later on a flight used for evacuating U.S. citizens, allies and vulnerable Afghans.

The visit by Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) â€" which was not approved as part of the normal process for congressional fact-finding trips â€" served as a distraction for military and civilian staffers attempting to carry out frenzied rescue efforts, according to two people familiar with the trip who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the matter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter sent to House members Tuesday afternoon: “I write to reiterate that the Departments of Defense and State have requested that Members not travel to Afghanistan and the region during this time of danger.”

World Bank cuts off funding for Afghanistan development projectsLink copied

The World Bank is suspending funding for projects in Afghanistan because of concerns about the impact of Taliban rule, particularly on women and girls. The move is a blow to the Taliban regime, which is already facing a cash squeeze and a looming humanitarian crisis.

The Washington-based institution has committed more than $5.3 billion for development projects in the war-torn country over the last two decades, and has raised nearly $13 billion for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which it administers. The fund is Afghanistan’s largest single source of development financing, supporting up to 30 percent of the country’s civilian budget.

“We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with our internal policies and procedures,” a World Bank spokeswoman said in a statement. “Together with our partners we are exploring ways we can remain engaged to preserve hard-won development gains and continue to support the people of Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan is already in dire economic straits. The United States has frozen the country’s reserves, residents face challenges withdrawing money from bank accounts and billions of dollars of international aid have been put on hold.

Wahid Majrooh, the acting minister of public health in Afghanistan, recently told The Washington Post that he is “deeply, deeply concerned” about cuts in international aid and funding for the Afghan government’s national health-care system.

“Humanitarian assistance not only needs to remain, but needs to increase over the next few days and months,” former Afghan central bank chief Ajmal Ahmady recently told CNN. “Let’s not wait until another crisis hits.”

U.S. rushes to improve ‘terrible’ conditions at Qatar air base supporting evacuationLink copied

U.S. officials are moving to improve conditions at an American air base in Qatar that is serving as a temporary hub for many Afghan evacuees, following reports of rat infestation, loose human feces and vomit.

Military aircraft have been flying thousands of people out of Afghanistan to Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, in recent weeks. More than 13,000 arrived at Al Udeid in a six-day period after Aug. 14 alone, according to Air Force officials. The flood of evacuees has challenged base officials, who have been working extended hours to provide necessities such as water, food and cots.

“Where the Afghans are housed is a living hell,” a U.S. official wrote of Al Udeid in an email to State and Defense Department officials last week, according to Axios. “Trash, urine, fecal matter, spilled liquids and vomit cover the floors. … They now have a rat problem.”

The State Department did not comment on the reported email. U.S. officials are working to provide additional air conditioners and supplies to the base, according to a statement form the State Department.

“We are aware of and as concerned as anybody about what have been some terrible sanitation conditions at Qatar,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday. “Nobody’s making excuses, nobody’s ducking from this.”

The base, located in the Qatari desert where temperatures can reach 130 degrees, is home to roughly 10,000 U.S. troops. Though many of the initial arrivals have since been flown out to other locations, American planes could fly thousands more evacuees there before Aug. 31, when the United States is slated to completely withdraw from Afghanistan.

U.S. and allied officials have been seeking to expand the number of destinations that can temporarily shelter fleeing Afghans. Countries including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have offered support, and U.S. bases in Western Europe are also providing interim shelter.

South Korea set to welcome hundreds of Afghan allies ThursdayLink copied

SEOUL â€" South Korea has deployed military aircraft to evacuate some 380 Afghans who worked with Seoul over the last two decades, the foreign ministry here said Wednesday.

Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon told reporters that the group, which also includes the families of Seoul’s Afghan partners, will arrive in the country Thursday. Three South Korean military aircraft had been sent to support an airlift out of Afghanistan.

They are entering South Korea “not as refugees but as people of merit to the country,” Choi said.

The Afghans worked at the South Korean embassy and other institutions run by Seoul, including a hospital and a vocational training center. They include medical staff and interpreters, Reuters reported.

Seoul suspended operations at its Kabul embassy on Aug. 15 and evacuated most of its South Korean staff to a Middle Eastern country.

South Korea has a “national responsibility” to provide refuge to its Afghan partners, national security adviser Suh Hoon told lawmakers Monday, adding that they “now have their safety threatened following the Taliban takeover.”

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye had also said that the government is “actively examining” ways to receive refugees from Afghanistan.

The move comes as the United States has reportedly chosen not to use its military facilities in South Korea to temporarily shelter fleeing Afghans.

Japan sends military aircraft for evacuation mission after criticism for using British plane Link copied

TOKYO â€" The Japanese government is evacuating the remainder of its nationals and local support staff from Kabul, following the departure of diplomats from its embassy last week, according to officials and local reports.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a party meeting Tuesday that Tokyo is prioritizing the evacuation of Japanese nationals and Afghan staff. The government on Monday dispatched Self-Defense Forces aircraft to Afghanistan with the goal of evacuating up to several hundred people who worked for the embassy and other organizations. This marks the first time the Self-Defense Forces will evacuate foreign nationals from a country, according to Kyodo News.

Last week, the State Department received a request from Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori to evacuate 12 diplomats from a facility located just outside Kabul airport, according to a senior State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive matters.

Those Japanese diplomats had fled on foot but quickly had to turn back when gunfire erupted in the crowded street, the official said. The State Department coordinated with the Defense Department to provide air support for the Japanese diplomats, who traveled by foot about 1½ miles to the airport and were evacuated on a British plane, the official said.

The decision to evacuate embassy staff on a British plane drew criticism from Japan’s ruling party, which urged the government to send its own aircraft.

The Japanese Embassy in Kabul was shut down last week and its diplomats were relocated to Dubai.

Meanwhile, two Afghan athletes who were scheduled to compete in the Tokyo Paralympics, which began Tuesday, have been safely relocated from Afghanistan, Paralympics officials said in a briefing Wednesday. They declined to disclose where the athletes are but said they are receiving counseling for trauma and that there are no plans for them to compete in the Games.

Missy Ryan in Washington contributed to this report.

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