Many retired officials held a protest in the Afghan capital of Kabul over unpaid pensions on Monday, TOLOnews reported.

The retired military personnel and civil officials from previous governments conducted the protest, claiming that they are facing many problems in the freezing winter as they have not been paid for the last 16 months.

“There is nothing to heat our rooms. I pay 4,000 Afs for house rent and we are three families. I have my daughter in laws with me, and we have nothing to eat,” TOLOnews quoted Alina, a former government employee as saying.

The demonstrators demanded that the Taliban pay their pensions.

“It has been around one and a half years since the Islamic Emirate gave us promises to pay our pensions, but we are yet to be paid,” said Zabiullah, a retiree.

Another retiree, Omar also described his plight and said, “We have served this country with honesty. We are all facing economic challenges and all of us have families.”Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the international community has been expressing concern over the situation of people in the war-ravaged nation and calling for respecting the basic human rights in the country by the Taliban.

Despite the assistance, Afghanistan’s poverty, malnutrition, and unemployment rates are still at their peak in the country. Natural catastrophes have made the situation even worse for Afghans, who are now facing one of the greatest humanitarian crises in history.

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