Feature: Afghans protest U.S. freezing assets through photo exhibition on plight of people

KABUL, March 31 (Xinhua) -- "Our aim of the photo exhibition is to display the plight of oppressed Afghans to the world community and urge the world community to help get back Afghanistan's assets frozen by the United States," an Afghan photographer Zirak Malyar told Xinhua.

Depicting Afghanistan's poverty and economic woes via photo exhibition, Malyar said that Afghans demand that the United States frees Afghanistan's assets held in its banks.

The exhibition, titled "Poverty and Hope" and including scores of photos, was held here on a street to protest against the United States for freezing nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars assets of Afghanistan's central bank.

In the wake of U.S.-led forces defeat in Afghansitan and Taliban's taking over of the country's power last August, the U.S. government has frozen the Afghan assets, which has worsened the war-torn country's already fragile economy.

U.S. president Joe Biden issued a decree in February, allocating 3.5 billion dollars of the frozen sum to the 9/11 victims' families and earmarking another 3.5 billion dollars to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.

The decision has been widely condemned in Afghanistan.

More than 22 million Afghans out of some 35 million of the country's population, according to aid agencies reports, are facing acute food shortage and Afghanistan would face humanitarian catastrophe if not assisted.

"Our country has been facing daunting challenges due to foreign interference over the past four decades of wars," said another Afghan citizen Sayed Shahir.

Looking at the pictures in the photo exhibition, Shahir spoke loudly "Our demand from America is to unfreeze Afghanistan's assets and the photos on display here clearly send the message to the world."

Organizers of the art exhibition, supported by Afghanistan's central bank Da Afghanistan Bank, said in a statement that imposing sanction on the Afghan administration severely affect the living conditions of ordinary Afghan people.

Afghanistan's central bank also noted in a statement that no country including the United States has the right to freeze Afghanistan's national assets.

Da Afghanistan Bank believes in freedom of speech, social justice, service to people and requests the international community to stand with the Afghan people at this moment, the statement said.