The Taliban-run Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday that 12,000 people across 30 institutions have been confirmed as eligible for retirement following an assessment process carried out over the past four months.
Abdul Qayum Naseer, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, told state-run national television that pension payments for some retirees have already begun. He said the process would continue until all eligible retirees receive their payments.
The ministry did not specify which institutions’ former employees have so far been paid.
After seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban suspended pension payments to about 160,000 retirees who had been receiving benefits under the previous government. The decision triggered repeated protests over the past four years, with retirees frequently demonstrating outside the General Directorate of Pensions to demand the resumption of payments.
In 2024, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued an eight-article decree instructing retirees to pursue their pension claims through special courts.
Separately, the Ministry of Finance announced on December 16 that pension payments would be made by January 20, 2026, to retirees from several institutions, including the ministries of finance, interior, and labour and social affairs, as well as the national electricity company, the directorate of urban water supply and sanitation, and the Taliban-controlled national television network.
