Russian official warns Afghan crisis may lead to civil war

Kabul [Afghanistan], November 18 : Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, warned of a critical situation in Afghanistan and said that if the Taliban does not find a solution to the ongoing crisis in terms of military-political and socio-economic, the country could move toward civil war, reported local media.
"The situation unfolding today in Afghanistan is unprecedented both in military-political and socio-economic terms. If the new authorities in Kabul fail to normalize the situation, and the international community fails to provide effective support to the Afghan people, the scenario could become catastrophic, involving a new civil war, the general impoverishment of the population and famine," Tolo News quoted Patrushev as saying.
However, the Taliban has indicated that the current crisis in the country is due to funds that remain frozen by the US Treasury department.
"Afghanistan's assets are still in reserve. The aids that were pledged to Afghanistan are still suspended" Tolo News quoted Inamullah Samangani, the Taliban deputy spokesman as saying.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August and the US military ended its 20 years of military presence in the country.
Over 9 billion dollars of Afghan assets have remained in reserve since the collapse of the former government. The International Monetary Fund allocated USD 450 million of aid for Afghanistan but to date, it has not been provided to the war-torn country, Afghan media reported.
"The people and Afghan government are gripped with an economic crisis and this crisis is not manageable without international aid. The international community should increase their assistance to avert the crisis," Tolo News quoted Asadullah Nadeem, a military analyst as saying.