Afghanistan’s acting finance minister Khalid Payenda has resigned and left the country after the Taliban captured key customs posts bleeding the administration of revenue, reinforcing the government’s isolation as the militants make swift gains.
Payenda has “resigned and left the country because Afghanistan is grappling with declining revenues after the takeover of the custom posts,” Finance Ministry spokesman Mohammad Rafi Tabe said in a phone interview Wednesday. The minister also had to travel abroad to visit his ailing wife “and wasn’t able to effectively handle his job at a time when the country is going through its worst economic and security situation,” Tabe added.
