Hundreds of Afghans protested in Kabul on Tuesday against the US for freezing Afghanistan's central bank reserves of over $9 billion and cutting international assistance to the impoverished country, which has been embroiled in a nearly 20-year war.
Approximately 600 people gathered at the Abdul Haq intersection and in front of an abandoned building that served as the US embassy in Afghanistan before the US announced its exit on Aug. 31 after nearly two decades of operations.
The Afghan People's Movement, a relatively unknown organization, organized the all-men demonstration.
Protesters chanted anti-US slogans and carried banners and posters with slogans such as "Our money is our right," "People are voicing against hunger," "Does the world want a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan?" "Why don't you release our funds?" "Do Afghans get no attention from the UN and human rights organizations?"
Protesters also raised slogans supporting the Taliban administration.
Shafiq Ahmad Rahimi, the group's organizer, spoke on behalf of the protesters, urging the quick unfreezing of the reserves as well as the restoration of international assistance.
"The money that belonged to us was seized by the US. Its goal is to bring the Afghan people to their knees," he said.
