<p>Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said Saturday they will resume issuing passports in Kabul, giving hope to citizens who feel threatened living under the Islamists' rule.</p>.<p>Thousands of Afghans have also applied for new travel documents to escape a growing economic and humanitarian crisis described by the UN as an "avalanche of hunger".</p>.<p>The authorities will start issuing the travel documents from Sunday at Kabul's passport office, Alam Gul Haqqani, the head of the passport department in the interior ministry, told reporters.</p>.<p>The Taliban stopped issuing passports shortly after their August 15 return to power, as tens of thousands of people scrambled to Kabul's only airport in a bid to catch any international flight that could evacuate them.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/taliban-prepare-new-afghan-budget-without-foreign-aid-1061888.html" target="_blank">Taliban prepare new Afghan budget without foreign aid</a></strong></p>.<p>In October the authorities reopened the passport office in Kabul only to suspend work days later as a flood of thousands of applications caused the biometric equipment used there to break down.</p>.<p>"All the technical issues have now been resolved," Haqqani said, adding that initially travel documents will be given to those who had already applied before the office suspended work.</p>.<p>New applications will be accepted from January 10, he said.</p>.<p>Issuing passports is seen as a test of the Taliban's commitment to the international community to allow eligible people to leave amid the growing humanitarian crisis.</p>.<p>The Taliban are pressing donors to restore billions of dollars in aid that was suspended when the previous Western-backed regime imploded in the final stages of a US military withdrawal.</p>.<p>The abrupt withholding of aid amounts to an "unprecedented" shock for an economy already battered by drought and decades of war, according to the United Nations Development Programme.</p>.<p>The crisis has forced many in the capital to sell household possessions to buy food for their families.</p>.<p>International flights, mainly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have slowly resumed at Kabul airport after the facility was trashed in August when crowds of people scrambled to evacuate.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said Saturday they will resume issuing passports in Kabul, giving hope to citizens who feel threatened living under the Islamists' rule.</p>.<p>Thousands of Afghans have also applied for new travel documents to escape a growing economic and humanitarian crisis described by the UN as an "avalanche of hunger".</p>.<p>The authorities will start issuing the travel documents from Sunday at Kabul's passport office, Alam Gul Haqqani, the head of the passport department in the interior ministry, told reporters.</p>.<p>The Taliban stopped issuing passports shortly after their August 15 return to power, as tens of thousands of people scrambled to Kabul's only airport in a bid to catch any international flight that could evacuate them.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/taliban-prepare-new-afghan-budget-without-foreign-aid-1061888.html" target="_blank">Taliban prepare new Afghan budget without foreign aid</a></strong></p>.<p>In October the authorities reopened the passport office in Kabul only to suspend work days later as a flood of thousands of applications caused the biometric equipment used there to break down.</p>.<p>"All the technical issues have now been resolved," Haqqani said, adding that initially travel documents will be given to those who had already applied before the office suspended work.</p>.<p>New applications will be accepted from January 10, he said.</p>.<p>Issuing passports is seen as a test of the Taliban's commitment to the international community to allow eligible people to leave amid the growing humanitarian crisis.</p>.<p>The Taliban are pressing donors to restore billions of dollars in aid that was suspended when the previous Western-backed regime imploded in the final stages of a US military withdrawal.</p>.<p>The abrupt withholding of aid amounts to an "unprecedented" shock for an economy already battered by drought and decades of war, according to the United Nations Development Programme.</p>.<p>The crisis has forced many in the capital to sell household possessions to buy food for their families.</p>.<p>International flights, mainly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, have slowly resumed at Kabul airport after the facility was trashed in August when crowds of people scrambled to evacuate.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>