KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered a 20 percent reduction in staffing and budget across all public institutions, including Taliban’s military structures, according to two senior Taliban sources familiar with the directive.
The cuts, which come amid worsening economic pressures and dwindling international aid, also include salary reductions for many civil servants and Taliban forces, three public sector employees in separate ministries said.
One official in the Taliban-run Ministry of Public Health confirmed that over 6,400 staff members are expected to be laid off, including at least 330 positions in Kabul alone. Another official in the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior said non-military staff would be the first to be dismissed in an effort to trim expenses.
The Taliban, which seized power in 2021 after the withdrawal of international forces, has struggled to stabilize the country’s economy amid sanctions, aid freezes and mass unemployment. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid recently acknowledged the workforce reduction plan, saying cuts were aimed at improving efficiency and curbing institutional “inflation.”
“In some sectors, particularly the military, there has been downsizing, and in civilian departments as well, a small percentage of reductions are being implemented,” Mujahid said. “This is to improve performance and reduce administrative bloat.”
One Taliban source said acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, currently in Qatar, is seeking new funding sources to address the group’s deepening financial crisis.
In March, Amu News reported exclusively on the Taliban’s plan to eliminate nearly 90,000 positions in the Ministry of Education. That move, sources said, was part of Akhundzada’s broader austerity policy aimed at maintaining financial control amid a sharp drop in donor assistance.
A draft plan from the Ministry of Education seen by Amu outlined mass layoffs of technical staff, reportedly in response to international aid cuts tied to human rights violations, including the exclusion of girls from secondary education and the public sector.
“This policy will only increase hunger, poverty, and unemployment,” said Arif Rahmani, a former member of parliament. “When nearly 100,000 technical positions are cut, it’s not just an educational crisis — it’s a national economic one.”
While the Taliban maintain that their budget is not reliant on foreign aid, the timing of the cuts has coincided with the cessation of U.S. assistance and a sharp decline in humanitarian funding from international partners.
Some public employees now fear the situation could worsen.
“If this plan is implemented,” said a mid-level civil servant, “we’re looking at an economic disaster that will be difficult — if not impossible — to recover from.”
