Afghanistan crisis: Committee on price control to be established

There are better areas where the money could be spent.

We are in touch with American citizens there who want to leave the country.

The new, Taliban-appointed head of Afghanistan's central bank has sought to reassure banks the group wants a fully-functioning financial system, but has so far provided little detail on how it will supply funds to sustain it, said four bankers familiar with the matter. The acting central bank governor, Haji Mohammad Idris, met members of the Afghanistan Banks Association and other bankers this week, and told them that the Taliban viewed the banking sector as imperative, said two bankers who attended the meeting.

A price control committee is to be established in Afghanistan amid a spike in prices on imported food and fuel, Afghan Khaama Press news agency reported on Wednesday. The committee will reportedly include members of the Afghan commerce chamber and the ministry of industry. The agency added that the spike is being caused by the closure of banks and the suspension of monetary services following the takeover of Taliban.

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he will travel to Afghanistan's neighbours on Wednesday, as he defended the UK government's approach to the country following weeks of scathing criticism from across the political spectrum. Ahead of visiting the unspecified countries to discuss allowing vulnerable Afghans entry and onward travel to the UK, he said the Foreign Office was dispatching 15-person "rapid deployment teams" to continue London's evacuation efforts.

The Taliban have said that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada will be the leader under whom a prime minister or president will run the country, as per a report by Tolo News. Anamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, said that Akhundzada will also be the leader of the new government. The Taliban have already appointed governors, police chiefs and police commanders for different provinces and districts.

The United States will help build new facilities for border guards in Tajikistan along the Central Asian country's frontier with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to better respond to security threats, the U.S embassy in Dushanbe said on Wednesday. The new facility, which will be built in Tajikistan's southwestern tip, will replace an outdated detachment and allow border guards to "deploy forces more quickly to border areas in response to threats," the embassy said.

The EU must stop shirking its responsibilities towards migrants, especially with the expected influx since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the European Parliament's president said on Wednesday. "We cannot pretend that Afghanistan is not our business because we participated in that mission," David Sassoli told a conference on the future of Europe at the annual strategic forum in Bled, Slovenia.

The Taliban have approved Afghanistan's first cricket Test since their takeover, raising hopes that international matches will continue as usual under the new rule of the Islamists. "We have got approval to send the team to Australia," chief executive of the Afghanistan Cricket Board Hamid Shinwari told AFP. During their first stint in power, before they were ousted in 2001, the Taliban banned most forms of entertainment -- including many sports -- and stadiums were used as public execution venues.

Britain's foreign minister Dominic Raab said the intelligence assessment was that it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year as he defended Britain's withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Taliban swept across the country much more quickly. "That doesn't mean we didn't do contingency planning or game-out or test the other propositions. And just to be clear, that's something that was widely shared - that view - amongst NATO allies."

Taliban's commission for guidance and encouragement's head Mullah Amir Khan Motaqi said that negotiations with the tribal elders and leaders failed and asked the people of Panjshir province to motivate their leaders, Afghanistan's Khaama Press reported. "This is the first time in the recent history of Afghanistan that a newly appointed government announces general amnesty and why should the people of Panjshir still be in trouble and they do not avail themselves of the freedom," Khaama Press quoted Motaqi as saying.

Internet services have been snapped by Taliban in Afghanistan's Panjshir province while roads leading to the valley have also been blocked by the group. Panjshir is the only province that has not fallen to the Taliban after the country's takeover by the outfit. The local residents of the province said that they are facing serious challenges in absence of phone and internet network cut down, Tolo News reported.

Pakistan remains cognizant of the threats posed by the various terror groups operating from Afghanistan and it will strengthen intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism cooperation with China post-US withdrawal, the country's envoy to China has said. "We continue to work through existing mechanisms to build capacities, share intelligence, and coordinate our efforts. In view of the emerging challenges and threats, the two countries would enhance and strengthen the existing cooperation and coordination,” Pakistan's ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said.

The Taliban has surrounded the only remaining province resisting its rule, a senior leader said on Wednesday, calling on rebels to negotiate a settlement with the group. Under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, son of a former Mujahideen commander, several thousand members of local militias and remnants of army and special forces units have been holding out against the Taliban. In a recorded speech addressed to Afghans in Panjshir, senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi called on the rebels to put down their weapons. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is home for all Afghans," he said.