Kabul: Dozens of Retired Women Protest Taliban’s Non-Payment of Pensions

Dozens of retired women in Kabul on Tuesday (September 16) staged a protest in front of the Taliban Pension Fund Directorate, demanding the payment of their overdue pensions.

The protesters say that for four years the Taliban have not paid the pensions of retirees, a situation that has left many of them in poverty and hunger.

One protester told Zan News: “We cannot even afford to buy bread for our families. After years of service, today they do not recognize any rights for us.”

Sources confirm that in response to this gathering, the Taliban dispersed several women with violence and beatings. The protesters came from various institutions including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the former Afghan Parliament.

This protest was held while Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader, in April 2024, announced the dissolution of Afghanistan’s pension system. He later issued another decree making the payment of pensions conditional on the decision of a special court under the group’s supervision, and in a separate eight-article decree agreed to pay pensions of only “some” retired government employees based on the “Sharia ruling” of the same court.

It is worth noting that since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the pensions of thousands of retired women, from teachers to health workers and employees of the former government, have been suspended.