Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/h9j224vfvor0v6g/VRP58438.mp4?dl=0
Long lines formed at a bank in Kabul as hundreds of Afghans tried to withdraw their money amid ongoing turbulence due to the Taliban takeover.
Footage from August 28 shows locals crowding the outside of the New Kabul Bank, unable to withdraw cash due to restrictions imposed by the financial institutions. Each customer is allowed a daily withdrawal of up to 20,000 AFN (roughly 200 USD).
The financial chokehold came amid an exodus, with thousands of desperate Afghans swarming the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the past weeks to try to escape from Taliban rule.
Western countries, as well as The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have already cut off cash aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban rose to power.
According to Ajmal Ahmady, former governor of Afghanistan’s central bank, most of the bank’s funds will be unavailable to Taliban forces.
He said: ‘We can say the accessible funds to the Taliban are perhaps 0.1-0.2% of Afghanistan’s total international reserves. Not much.’