Over the past three years, thousands of retired individuals in Afghanistan have endured hardship while waiting for their pension payments. These retirees, who claim a lifetime spent advancing governance, national development, and defending Afghanistan’s territorial integrity, now find themselves begging out of necessity. Some, despite decades of service, are forced to ask for bread outside bakeries, once having served the public themselves. Numerous videos on social media and in the press highlight the retirees’ struggles; some have resorted to selling goods on the streets, while others, due to age and illness, are unable to work. Recently, dozens of retirees protested outside the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Finance, demanding their pension payments.
On Saturday, October 26, dozens of retirees gathered in front of the Ministry of Finance, blocking traffic as they protested the non-payment of pensions. They stated that the Taliban, for over three years, have withheld their pensions, leaving them in severe economic distress.
Throughout these three years, retired civil servants in Kabul and other cities have repeatedly protested, yet the Taliban have not addressed their demands or taken steps to pay their pensions. Retirees state that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they have received no pension payments, living instead in dire conditions. They emphasize that these pensions are not charity but a right earned through years of deductions from their monthly salaries.
Mumtaz Ahmad, a retiree, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that as winter approaches, he can no longer afford to support his six family members. “The economy is weak. I have no money to meet my family’s basic needs,” he said. “They need bread, go to school, and have educational expenses. I hope our pensions are finally paid. We have worked, and deductions were taken from our salaries to secure this.” He added that Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) currently owes him 1.4 million Afghanis, which he believes should be paid.
After 40 years of service, Ahmad reports being left with nothing, often visiting offices to inquire about his unpaid pension. “Our economy is at zero,” he explains. “An official who served for 40 years now has to beg at bakery doors for a couple of pieces of bread because the government hasn’t paid his pension.”
Jalil Ahmad, another retiree in Herat, shared that the lack of pension payments has placed him in a similarly difficult situation. He said, “Pension is our legal right, something we worked for over the years. But now the Taliban have taken our rights hostage and refuse to pay it. We are also in poor economic conditions. Winter is here, and we have no heating or money to cover household expenses.”
Meanwhile, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, the acting head of Afghanistan’s permanent mission to the United Nations, responded to the retirees’ protests by accusing the Taliban of theft and oppression. He highlighted a statement from Abbas Stanikzai, a deputy in the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that referenced people fleeing the country due to lack of justice. Faiq remarked, “The failure to pay retirees’ pensions is, in fact, outright theft and oppression. Officials who paid into their pensions for years are now denied their rightful payments.”
Addressing Stanikzai and the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Faiq noted that while the Taliban collect alms, tithes, and taxes—even extorting street vendors—they refuse to pay retirees their pensions. “How can you speak of justice when your actions contradict your claims?” he asked.
Retirees have staged multiple protests in front of the UN office in Kabul, calling for their pension payments. In videos shared on social media, they demand their pensions, explaining that they have received no stipend in three years.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Finance had announced, during the approval of the 2023-24 budget, an allocation of four billion Afghanis for pension payments and had conveyed retirees’ demands to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader in Kandahar.
In March 2023, the Taliban cabinet declared that pensions and disability payments would not count as salaries. Instead, the decision allowed all Emirate agencies to rehire retirees and disabled individuals who could work. Subsequently, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an order stating that, effective March 1, 2024, no further deductions would be taken from employee salaries for pension contributions, a move many civil servants interpreted as dismantling the pension system.
While the exact number of retirees in Afghanistan is unclear, the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Finance previously reported approximately 152,000 individuals eligible for pensions across 119 government agencies, 10,586 of whom were women.
Despite the withheld pensions, reports suggest that many Taliban members have built high-rise buildings and luxurious palaces, secured lucrative mining contracts, and received large sums in humanitarian aid. Additionally, numerous officials within the group reportedly married for a second, third, or even fourth time during this period.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
کام خشک بازنشستهگان و دهن بسته طالبان؛ سه سال گرسنهگی و محرومیت از حق تقاعد
