In a surprising move, the Supreme Leader of the Taliban-run caretaker government has announced an immediate ban on beggars from seeking alms on the street while offer them jobs or education.
The supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada in his order which was issued on Monday instructed concerned entities in the administration to round up all the beggars on Kabul city streets and find an amicable solution to the problem.
‘All the beggars will pass biometric process and the caretakers of fake beggars would be held responsible if he or she returns to begging again,’ he said.
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The leader also went on to posit that the government would provide job opportunities for the adult beggars who are skilled in any field and send the children beggars to schools.
The order said that the government would provide monthly allowances to real beggars who are too weak to work.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), nearly 20 million Afghans out of a population of more than 35 million are facing acute food shortage.
In a related development, reports have revealed that Afghanistan’s Taliban forces have clashed with the Iranian border guards on the frontier between the two warring countries.
The Afghan government had also revealed that one its officers had been killed in Sunday’s fighting, which had also occurred in the border area between Afghanistan’s Nimroz province and Iran’s Hirmand region.
Each country blamed the other for the incident.
There have been several clashes at the border since Taliban militants took over Afghanistan a year ago. Iran has not recognised the Taliban government in Kabul. The exact circumstances of the latest skirmish are unclear.
‘We have one killed and one wounded,’ Nimroz police spokesman Bahram Haqmal told reporters.
In Iran’s Sistan va Baluchestan province, Hirmand official Maysam Barazandeh was quoted by Fars news agency as saying there had been no casualties on the Iranian side.