AFGHANISTAN POVERTY – Taliban intent on clearing Kabul streets of beggars

The Taliban have launched a campaign to clear the streets of Kabul of beggars using a biometric registration system and penalties for repeat offenders.

Afghanistan has been immersed in a deep crisis since the Taliban came to power a little over a year ago. International aid ran dry and foreign accounts were frozen in a country that was already bearing the brunt of two decades of war.

Of Afghanistan’s 40 million people, some 19 million suffer from food insecurity, 6 million of which are at risk of famine, according to United Nations data.

(…)