a compromise to allow them to keep working. perhaps if they were accompanied. one of the things we re reaching out to is some of the sort of academic scholars, theologians, who understand the taliban s interpretation of the koran and what sharia law means to them and how that affects women. and seeing, are there any interpretations that would allow a husband-wife team, a father-daughter, a brother-sister team, to work together to be able to do that? reporter: if heslop can find a way to get back into kabul, and especially if he can retain female staff, it could be a useful test case for other employers hoping to operate there. max foster, cnn, north yorkshire, england. still to come on cnn, frustrations are mounting in the hurricane-ravaged louisiana where hundreds of thousands of
of afghanistan released a statement calling on the international community to do its utmost, as he puts it, to stop the onslaught, and hadn t warns there s a humanitarian crisis inside the valley because it s filling up with refugees and the power lines and telephone lines have been cut and people are running out of food. all right. let s turn to life in kabul. when we spoke yesterday, the money exchange market had just reopened. i understand you spent time speaking to people about the challenges of trying to get access to cash in what is a cash-heavy economy. what did you find out? people are really struggling. the banks are open, and you mentioned some of the exchange markets are starting to open. but there are strict restrictions. the banks are only giving a maximum of $200 a month. and that s for people who have money in their accounts. a lot of people here are paid by the government, the government
operations. qatar s ambassador said he witnessed the first domestic flight taking off on saturday. journalist ben farmer is in kabul and joins us by phone with the latest from there. ben, let s start with the fighting in the pancheer valley. what s the latest on the conflict? there s heavy fighting ongoing in panchief, 90 minutes driving north of kabul. both sides have claimed there s victory from successes. for some of the only independent information we know, that there is an aid agency which runs a hospital in the valley, quite a significant way into the valley. they ve released a statement saying that the taliban have reached that far. so the taliban have made significant inroads into the valley. last night, the acting president
whiles away the days negotiating with the taliban. he left kabul shortly before the country was taken over and he s trying to find a way back in, to continue his work running the u.n. mine clearance program. the country is absolutely littered in explosive remnants of war. there are the ieds they laid to try and disrupt government organizations, then the normal conflict grenades, rockets, shells that have been used, plus what was dropped on them. reporter: the irony is that the taliban is now asking for help in clearing the ieds that they laid in the first place. i am expecting to have a call with a taliban representative in the next few days to discuss how we can start getting at the moment about 40% of the demining teams in afghanistan working. by the end of september we d like 80%, 90%. reporter: one of those teams isemale and heslop is taking advice on whether there might be
welcome to all you watching us here in the united states, canada, and around the world. i m kim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. we begin in afghanistan where taliban fighters are trying to seize the panjeer valley north of kabul, home to anti-taliban forces, the only territory not under taliban control. fresh fighting was reported on saturday with both sides claiming successes. now cnn can t independently verify the accuracy of those reports. in the capital where ordinary afghans have been starved for cash, the largest currency exchange market reopened saturday for the first time in nearly three weeks. even banks that are open are limiting withdrawals. and there s word the kabul airport has resumed some