RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi: The Taliban has abolished the pension system in Afghanistan, which is gripped by a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis. The move has triggered protests by retirees who say they cannot survive without state assistance. Scores of retired civil servants and retired members of the armed forces staged a rally in Kabul on April 20. The protest was dispersed by the Taliban. In early April, the Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, ordered his government to stop deducting retirement contributions from the salaries of civil servants, effectively dismantling the pension system. Akhundzada suggested that the system was “un-Islamic.” Click here to read more (external link).