OIC needs to intensify assistance to Afghanistan

KUALA LUMPUR: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) needs to intensify assistance to the Afghan people whose lives are seen to be getting more and more stressful every day, said Geostrategy expert Prof Dr Azmi Hassan.

He said the assistance was necessary to prevent the people in Afghanistan from continuing to face the threat of starvation.

"The United States action early last month seizing funds belonging to the Afghan government that were frozen after US troops withdrew from the country's soil has had an impact on the people of the country. The majority of them are living from hand to mouth.

"Therefore, the OIC must continue to ensure that this assistance continues to be enhanced from time to time to ensure that the fate of the Afghan people continues to be protected," the Senior Fellow of the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) told Bernama.

Earlier last month, the US seized US$7bil (RM29.4bil) in assets belonging to the Afghan government and said it would be divided between the much-needed aid for the Afghan people and for the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

US President Joe Biden had allocated US$3.5bil of Afghanistan's frozen US$7bil funds to be used for pending legal proceedings and compensation claims for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Azmi added that the Taliban-led Afghan government was now seen to be able to survive for five months to a year despite not having the funds.

"The Taliban government may be able to withstand without the funds, but the victims are the people.

"In this case, the decision is in the hands of the Taliban government itself to convince the international community, including the OIC, that they (the Taliban) would honestly implement their promises, especially in terms of assistance to the people of the country," he said.

Last Wednesday (March 16), Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said Malaysia would donate 1.6 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Afghanistan in an effort to help the country recover.

Following the withdrawal of US troops in August 2021 after occupying the country for 20 years, the Taliban forces overthrew the government of Mohammad Ashraf Gani and took over the administration but faced difficulties due to a serious lack of funds. - Bernama