Taliban Leader: Afghanistan Will Not Interfere In The Internal Affairs Of Other Countries

JAKARTA - Afghanistan's acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund promised on Saturday the Taliban-led government would not interfere in the internal affairs of foreign countries.

In addition, Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund also urged international charities to continue offering assistance to Afghanistan, ahead of next week's meeting between the United States and the Taliban in Doha.

The message came during Mullah Hassan's audio address on state television, which was his first address to the country since the Taliban seized power in August.

"We assure all countries we will not interfere in their internal affairs, want to have good economic relations with them," Mullah Hassan said in a nearly 30-minute speech quoted from Daily Sabah on November 28.

The Taliban seized power on August 15 after toppling the previous US-backed government, as Washington hastily withdrew its troops from the country after a 20-year war. The previous Taliban regime was toppled in the US-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks on the US carried out by Al-Qaida, whose founder Osama bin Laden was living in Afghanistan at the time.

Mullah Hassan is a veteran of the Taliban, a close associate and political adviser of Mullah Omar, the movement's founder, and first supreme leader. Said to be in his 60s, Hassan served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister in the movement's previous regime between 1996-2001.

He was placed on the United Nations Security Council sanctions list related to the "actions and activities" of the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Mullah Hassan's government faces a series of challenges, notably reviving the country's dilapidated economy after the abandonment of international aid, which used to make up 75 percent of the national budget under the previous US-backed government.

"We ask all international charitable organizations not to withhold their aid and help our exhausted nation, so that the people's problems can be solved," said Mullah Hasan.

To note, inflation and unemployment have soared in Afghanistan, while the country's banking sector has collapsed since the takeover of the Taliban.

The financial crisis was exacerbated after Washington froze Afghanistan's deposit assets of about 10 billion US dollars, followed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) cutting off Afghanistan's access to finance.

UN aid agencies have warned that a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Afghanistan, with more than half of the country's 38 million population expected to face starvation this winter.

The rapidly deteriorating situation has forced Afghans to sell their household items to raise money for food and other basic necessities, with the local currency falling and prices skyrocketing.