A group of retired government employees gathered on Saturday outside the main pension office in Kabul, once again calling on the Taliban authorities to pay their long-overdue pensions.
In a message sent to Afghanistan International, the retirees emphasised that they are not asking for charity, but demanding the rightful payment of their salaries.
In a video message, one retiree said that Kabul’s retired employees have been gathering daily for the past four years outside the pension office to demand their payments. He noted that the Taliban had made repeated promises but had failed to fulfil them.
He stressed that pension payments are a basic right, deducted from their wages during their years of service.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, the payment of pensions to retired government employees has been suspended and has yet to be resumed.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, issued a decree in late December 2024 ordering the establishment of special courts to address pension cases and calling for the payments to be made. However, four months after the decree, the issue remains unresolved.
The retirees accuse the Taliban of dishonesty and breaking their promises, saying that if the group had genuinely intended to pay the pensions, they would have taken action in the nearly four years since their takeover.
