RASC News Agency: Armed Taliban forces stormed Sarai Shahzada, Kabul’s central currency exchange hub, on Thursday, January 30, issuing an ultimatum to money changers to cease all transactions in U.S. dollars. The group’s operatives have imposed a blanket prohibition on dollar trading, reinforcing their control over Afghanistan’s fragile economy. According to multiple sources, Taliban intelligence agents have established a permanent presence inside Sarai Shahzada, effectively converting the financial center into a military-controlled zone. The Taliban have not only enforced strict surveillance over exchange rates but have also taken direct measures to halt dollar transactions altogether. Their operatives are conducting systematic searches of cash reserves, preventing traders from moving U.S. dollars out of the market.
Eyewitness accounts confirm that Taliban intelligence agents confiscate and inspect money changers’ mobile phones and cash boxes, further tightening their grip on financial activities. One exchange dealer, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the situation as dire: “The Taliban have transformed Sarai Shahzada into a military garrison.” He explained that Taliban intelligence operatives have been stationed within the exchange market to manipulate the value of the Kabuli rupee against the dollar and to maintain strict oversight of financial transactions.
Fearing reprisals, traders have completely suspended dollar transactions, bringing business in Afghanistan’s primary currency hub to a standstill. The dealer further disclosed that Taliban security personnel now conduct extensive searches on money changers at closing hours, preventing them from carrying even a single dollar out of Sarai Shahzada. Several currency traders confirmed that the Taliban unilaterally set the exchange rate at 74 Kabuli rupees per dollar in the morning, only to revise it down to 73 rupees by the afternoon. This arbitrary intervention, they argue, has further crippled financial operations within Afghanistan’s most crucial currency exchange center.
This latest crackdown comes amid an intensifying economic crisis, exacerbated by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to halt American aid to Afghanistan. The abrupt cessation of U.S. financial assistance has triggered a sharp decline in the Kabuli rupee’s value, plunging the country deeper into economic turmoil.
