AFGHAN ECONOMIC MELTDOWN WOULD BE 'GIFT FOR TERRORISTS,'

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 11, (Reuters) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for an injection of cash into Afghanistan to avoid an economic meltdown that would spark a “catastrophic” situation for the Afghan people and be a “gift for terrorist groups.” His remarks come after his special envoy on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, warned the Security Council that the freezing of billions of dollars in international Afghan assets to keep them out of Taliban hands would inevitably spark “a severe economic downturn.”

Much of the Afghan central bank's $10 billion in assets are also parked overseas, where they have been frozen since the Taliban came to power last month.