AFGHANISTAN: Afghans prepared to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr under Taliban rule for the first time in 20 years. People crowded the markets on Sunday to buy goods, but many expressed their worries about the dire economic situation.

Many shoppers complained of high prices and shop owners said they were worried about the lack of sales.

Dried fruit seller, Sayed Mahdi, said, “It is clear for everyone that in previous regime the economic situation for everyone was good, and buying and selling of dried fruits was far better than now.”

A shopper, Shams-Ul-Afghan, said, "I come to market to buy groceries, the cost of every item has doubled, things which used to be a hundred AFN now it is now two hundred, in past I could buy two to three kilos of each item (pea, bean), now I cannot afford to buy even one kilo, I request the government to control the prices of everything."

Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund delivered his Eid speech and congratulated the people on celebrating the Muslim festival. But at the amusement park, the celebration mood is lackluster as Kabul residents said it is less colorful than the past.

Ahmad Tariq, a citizen visiting the amusement park, said, “This Eid is less colorful than before, and the reason is people are worried about the situation, they are upset, because the economic situation is not good at all, and unemployment has increased.”

The World Bank earlier in April issued a dire outlook for Afghanistan's economy, noting that per capita income had fallen by over a third in the last four months of 2021 following the seizure of power by the Islamist Taliban as U.S.-led foreign forces withdrew.

It said around 37% of Afghan households did not have enough money to cover food while 33% could afford food but nothing more.

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF DRY FRUIT SELLERS, GARMENTS SELLERS AND CROWD OF PEOPLE AT BAZAR, SOUNDBITES FROM SHOPKEEPERS AND RESIDENTS; VARIOUS OF KIDS AT THE CITY PARK ENJOYING AMUSEMENT EQUIPMENT, TALIBAN ARMED SOLDIER AT THE CHECKPOINT, VARIOUS OF TALIBAN SENIOR OFFICIAL AT THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, SOUNDBITE FROM, ISLAMIC EMIRATE OF AFGHANISTAN (IEA) PRIME MINISTER, “MOHAMMAD HASSAN AKHUND”}