World Bank pauses financial aid to Afghanistan, says it`s `deeply concerned` for women

NEW YORK: Concerned over the chaotic situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, the World Bank has stopped financial aid to the war-torn Islamic country.

“The World Bank said that it is "deeply concerned" about the situation there after the Taliban seized power and especially the prospects for women,’’ a bank spokesperson was quoted as saying by international news agencies.

"We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation," the official said.

The World Bank currently has over two dozen development projects in Afghanistan and it has provided financial assistance of USD 5.3 billion since 2002, mostly in grants.

Before this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had blocked operations in Afghanistan, which include an existing USD 370 million loan programme, as well as USD 340 million that Kabul was due to receive from Monday's release of Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

The situation worsened in the war-torn country after the US pulled out its troops and the Taliban dramatically took over the presidential palace in Kabul, leading President Ashraf Ghani to flee to Saudi Arabia.

US President Joe Biden has decided not to extend his August 31 deadline for completing the US-led evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Afghanistan.

Biden made the decision after consultation with his national security team. Weighing the risks of keeping forces on the ground beyond the deadline, he opted to complete the mission by next Tuesday, which was the deadline he set well before the Taliban completed its takeover of Afghanistan on August 15.

Biden has also asked his national security team to create contingency plans in case a situation arose for which the deadline needed to be extended slightly.