The U.S. is relaxing restrictions on sending aid to Afghanistan, where the humanitarian and economic crises are becoming increasingly dire. The U.S. this week backed a U.N. Security Council resolution which exempts most humanitarian assistance from sanctions linked to the Taliban.

Calls are also mounting for the Biden administration to unfreeze billions of dollars of Afghan assets to avert widespread starvation and a “humanitarian collapse.” On Monday, 46 House Democrats wrote in a joint letter to President Biden, “We fear, as aid groups do, that maintaining this policy could cause more civilian deaths in the coming year than were lost in 20 years of war.”

On Tuesday, protesters in Kabul rallied with banners reading “Let us eat” and “Give us our money.”