The Chargé d'Affaires UK Mission to Afghanistan Hugo Shorter said that there are no sanctions on Afghanistan as a country and that the UN sanctions target named individuals and entities.

“They were established in 2011 by UN Security Council Resolution No. 1988. These impose targeted asset freezes, travel bans & arms embargoes,” Shorter said.

“The UNSC in December 2021 passed Resolution UNSCR 2615 ("the humanitarian exception") ensuring that the UN sanctions regime poses no obstacle to humanitarian aid or other activities that support basic human needs,” Shorter said.

The Ministry of Economy said that Kabul is in talks with the international community to lift existing sanctions on Afghanistan.

“The efforts of the Islamic Emirate are aiming to pave the way for lifting sanctions, unfreezing Afghan assets of the people of Afghanistan, so that the economic situation in Afghanistan can improve,” Said Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy Minister of Economy.

The analysts said that the imposed sanctions on Afghanistan have had a negative impact on the Afghan economy.

“The imposition of sanctions and restrictions caused half of the country’s population to face hunger, and the activities of the private sector reached their lowest and investments faced problems,” said Abdul Naseer Rishtia, an economist.

“The freeze of the Afghan assets has undoubtedly affected the ability of the central bank in the monetary crisis in the country,” said Mir Shikib Mir, an economist.

Earlier, the Islamic Emirate said that sanctions have caused a halt in foreign investment in Afghanistan.