The United States government has again criticised political disputes in Kabul, urging president Ashraf Ghani and former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah to put aside differences amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The US cut nearly $1 billion (Dh3.67bn) in aid to Afghanistan after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to mediate a breakthrough between the two Afghan politicians, who have both claimed victory in last September's nationwide election.
In an increasingly stark tone, the US has been urging a swift resolution in order for Kabul to begin negotiations with the Taliban after a US deal to end their longest conflict.
“As the world gets slammed by Covid-19, with devastating economic consequences for all, donors are frustrated and fed up by personal agendas being advanced ahead of the welfare of the Afghan people,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice Wells tweeted overnight on Monday in a thinly veiled swipe at the two Afghan politicians.
Afghanistan ordered people to stay home amid the outbreak in the country but many initially defied the movement restrictions. They showed up to work and tried to keep markets open, but the police cracked down, setting up checkpoints in Kabul, detaining people and ordering others to go home.
There are officially 423 cases in the country and 11 deaths. Eighteen people who previously tested positive have since recovered.
Ms Wells also tweeted to say the US welcomed news that Mr Ghani had reversed a ruling to divide the finance ministry into three entities. His plan would have seen the ministry carved up into an office of revenues and customs, an office of the treasury and a finance administration.
But he has now backtracked from that decision.
“Welcome media reports that President Ashraf Ghani reversed his decree dismembering Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance. Donor confidence depends on responsible and inclusive leadership,” she said.
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Sergeant Jay Kenney, 26, with the 101st Airborne Division, Task Force Destiny, assists wounded Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers off the Blackhawk UH-60A helicopter after they were rescued in an air mission in Kandahar on December 12, 2010 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
An Afghan Northern Alliance fighter mans the front line against the Taliban on October 2, 2001 near Jabul os Sarache, 30 miles north of Kabul. Getty Images -
Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of Afghanistan travelling via helicopter for the final campaign rally in Bamiyan, Afghanistan on September 25, 2019. Afghans will head to the polls on Saturday, September 28th. Getty Images -
Mustafa Tamanna, 10, son of Afghan reporter Zabihullah Tamanna, weeps during the funeral ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 7, 2016. Tamanna was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by the Taliban. Getty Images -
Northern Alliance soldiers come back from the front line after a battle near Charatoy town in the north of Afghanistan on October 10, 2001. REUTERS -
A Northern Alliance fighter throwing rocks as part of a popular national game yards away from a multiple Grad missile launcher in October 12, 2001 in the Salang Gorge in Northern Afghanistan. Getty Images -
A French soldier from the 7th Mountain Regiment, part of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) stands on a boulder overlooking Kabul during a patrol August 3, 2002 in Afghanistan. The ISAF has been patrolling Kabul since January 2002, working with the government and a new police force to prevent the violence and lawlessness that threatened to engulf the city after a U.S.-led coalition forced the Taliban from power. Getty Images -
US Marine Sgt. Jerry Brown (L) of Jacksonville, North Carolina watches over a weapons cache found during a patrol near the American military compound at Kandahar Airport in January 16, 2002 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The Marines recovered mortars, rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery rounds discovered in various caches near the base while on the patrol. Getty Images) -
Members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry patrol through poppy fields in the village of Markhanai in May 6, 2002 in the Tora Bora valley region of Afghanistan. Getty Images -
The United States and Britain on October 7, 2001 launched a first wave of air strikes against Afghanistan. President George W. Bush said the action heralded a "sustained, comprehensive and relentless" campaign against terrorism. REUTERS -
A young Afghan girl eats a piece of bread at the Chaman refugee camp on November 8, 2001 on the Pakistan border with Afghanistan. The UNHCR has estimated that since September 11, 2001 over 135,000 Afghans have crossed the border into Pakistan, adding to the already millions of refugees living in the country. Getty Images -
Afghan opposition Northern Alliance soldiers leap over a trench as they return from front line positions after battle near the town of Charatoy in the north of Afghanistan October 10, 2001. REUTERS -
An Afghan child peeks out from the doorway of his family's home as a US Army soldier from the 101st Airborne stands guard in the eastern Afghan village of Hesarak on July 16, 2002 during what the Army refers to as a 'sensitive site exploitation' mission or 'SSE'. Getty Images -
Fred Perry, a British Royal Engineer soldier, reads the book "Black Hawk Down" inside his tent after a day of work on January 29, 2002 at the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) barracks at the Kabul airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Afghan soldiers (L) speak to a local Afghan, while a medic in the U.S. Army's 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, Charlie Company (R) monitors a soldier who has just survived a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) while driving a vehicle during a mission near Command Outpost Pa'in Kalay, on March 19, 2013 in Kandahar Province, Maiwand District, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Marines on a light armored vehicle prepare for patrol as an AH1W "Super Cobra" helicopter flies by on December 28, 2001 at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
A Norwegian ISAF (International Security Assistance Force)soldier from Recce Squadron 3 patrols on October 4, 2004 in Kabul, Afghanistan as election officials get ready for the Presidential elections. Getty Images -
Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai (L) is greeted by a group of Afghan military officers on his arrival to Kandahar airbase on May 04, 2002 in Southern Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Soldiers in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division wade though a creek to avoid buried insurgent bombs while on patrol October 16, 2010 in Zhari district west of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
British commandos descend from a mountain observation post overlooking the beginning of the Helmand River at the Kajaki hydroelectric dam on March 13, 2007 in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Getty Images -
101st Airbornes 1st Sgt. Kerry Black from Westmoreland, Tennessee uses an Afghan child's sling shot on February 6, 2002 as children crowd around him while he patrols on the outskirts of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Marine Cpl. Jonathan Eckert of Oak Lawn, IL attached to India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment works his improvised explosive device (IED) sniffing dog Bee as they secure a compound during a patrol near Forward Operating Base (FOB) Zeebrugge on October 11, 2010 in Kajaki, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Afghan refugees walk across the border into Pakistan on October 11, 2001 as they leave Afghanistan at the Chaman crossing point on the 4th day of U.S.-led air strikes against the ruling Taliban and terrorist networks in the country. Getty Images -
Anti-Taliban Afghan fighters watch several explosions from U.S. bombings in the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan on December 16, 2001. -
British Marines run under fire from the Taliban during a morning operation on March 18, 2007 near Kajaki in the Afghan province of Helmand. Getty Images -
Afghan Army troops prepare to board a British chinook helicopter from their base at Shorabak on March 12, 2007 in Southern Helmand province, Afghanistan. Getty Images -
British Marine Joe Harvey from Stafford, England (R), watches as British forces come under fire by Taliban insurgents on March 18, 2007 near Kajaki in the Afghan province of Helmand. Getty Images -
U.S. Army 101st Airborne 3-187 "Bravo" company soliders pass through a corn field while conducting a sensitive site exploitation (SSE) mission July 23, 2002 near the town of Narizah in Southeastern Afghanistan. Getty Images -
Scouts from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), pull overwatch during Operation Destined Strike while 2nd Platoon, Able Company searches a village below the Chowkay Valley in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on August 22, 2006. US Army
After his visit to Kabul in late March, Mr Pompeo said he was “disappointed” in the country’s rival leaders and announced the $1bn cut in aid.
The cut in US aid to Afghanistan would come from funds for security forces, three US sources told Reuters. Experts said such a move would undercut both Kabul's ability to fight the Taliban and its leverage to negotiate a peace deal with them.
Two US congressional aides said State Department officials told Congress the $1bn would come from a $4.2bn Pentagon fund that underwrites about three quarters of the Afghan security forces' annual budget.
Most of the fund pays for salaries, food, fuel, equipment and infrastructure to support Afghan troops and national police.
After nearly 20 years of fighting the Taliban, the US is looking for a way to extricate itself and to achieve peace between the US-backed government and the militant group, which controls more than 40 per cent of Afghan territory.
The results of September's election were delayed for months amid accusations from Dr Abdullah that the results were rigged. A large number of votes were disqualified as they did not have the corresponding biometric information.
Both leaders then held corresponding inaugurations on March 9.
The latest comments come as the Taliban said it was walking out on talks with Kabul about a prisoner exchange, accusing the government of holding “fruitless” meetings.
"Our technical team will not participate in fruitless meetings with relevant sides starting from tomorrow," Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is based in Doha, tweeted.
But Matin Bek, a member of the government's negotiating team, said the release had been delayed because the Taliban are demanding the 15 "top commanders" be released.
"We cannot release the killers of our people," Mr Bek told reporters on Monday. "We don't want them to go back to the battlefield and capture a whole province."
