A majority, though, are looking at homelessness, starvation and possible arrest, torture or murder at the hands of the Taliban and their supporters,” he said. Some are going back to their previous residences where they are scared because it’s known in the local neighborhood that they helped fight the Taliban. “Some have fled to other countries or found family and friends to stay with. Mauro said that those in the safe houses have been making preparations to the extent they can. Meanwhile, an earthquake in Afghanistan this week killed more than 1,000 people three of them, said Abdul, were cousins of his.Ībdul is still holding out hope for a last-minute surge of support, while attempting to find ways out of the country. “My heart still breaks for him,” said Abdul. His body, showing signs of torture, was dumped back there three days later, according to social media posts reviewed by The Intercept. Zadran was taken from his house during a Taliban raid in October. Abdul would guide the robot to the IED - improvised explosive device - and study the bomb through its camera, then approach it with a bomb suit and disarm it. Abdul’s job, along with Zadran’s, was disposal of explosives, and he shared training certificates and photos of himself and Zadran working with robotic disposal units. Abdul served in an Afghan army battalion under Capt. “They want to torture me and kill me, and then they will say to the media, ‘We killed an ISIS person,’” he said. The prison is preferable to the alternative, he added. “For me it’s like a prison,” said Abdul, adding that his wife is riddled with depression and anxiety. The children can’t leave for school or to play during the day. Around four months ago, for security reasons, his family switched safe houses, and they now stay in one room both day and night. If more money comes in, he said, he can extend their stays.Īdbul said that he and his family were able to survive the winter with the help of blankets, a kerosene heater, and care packages sent by the Afghan Liberty Project. Mauro said evictions have since brought the number down to around 150, and about 75 of those can hold on for another month given the current state of the finances. has also pressured the European Union to freeze the $2 billion in reserves it has been holding and has leaned on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to halt projects and block funding.Ībdul guessed that there had been around 400 people holed up in the project’s safe houses.
Eventually, the Biden administration declared that it would use half of the stolen funds to pay a judgment won by a small handful of relatives of the victims of the 9/11 attacks while continuing to sit on the remaining half. Banks held on to cash in accounts, paychecks couldn’t clear, imports halted, and inflation spiraled out of control. authorities stole the funds, leading to complete paralysis of the Afghan economy. The reserves were used like those of any central bank: to stabilize the currency, fight inflation, and balance out import and export payments. helped construct the bank and offered to hold the reserves - totaling $7 billion - in an account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. ambivalence to the misery we’ve produced in Afghanistan has been neatly encapsulated by the Biden administration’s brazen seizure of the foreign currency reserves of the Afghan central bank. “More attention would help the cause,” he said, “especially if the attention was geared towards how almost every civilian can save a life with a tiny donation, but it won’t come without loud complaints from people who see Afghans as terrorist-sympathizing cave-dwellers who like to kill each other.”
Mauro said that more focus on the plight of those at risk is worthwhile but will also produce a backlash. “One of the first questions I sometimes get is ‘You aren’t helping bring them to America are you?!’” “There’s definitely a sentiment out there that Afghanistan is so backwards and ‘lost’ that it isn’t worth trying anymore,” said Mauro.
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