Nervous Afghans have continued pulling funds out of the nation's largest bank, despite assurances from the country's leaders that their money was safe.
Crowds gathered at Kabul Bank branches around the capital Saturday to withdraw funds, saying they had lost faith in the bank's solvency following a change in leadership amid reports that tens of millions of dollars were lent to political elites for risky real estate investments.
The bank run that began earlier in the week undermines efforts by the central government to build an efficient modern political and financial system to drag Afghanistan out of its dire poverty and political instability.
Along with handling personal accounts, the bank handles the payment of salaries to tens of thousands of public servants, police officers and soldiers.
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