An Afghan minister cautions Pakistan against testing Afghanistan's patience as tensions between the two nations escalate.

Afghanistan-Pakistan: Afghan minister warns Pakistan not to test patience amid rising tensions

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="14">Afghanistan's former finance minister blames hundreds of thousands of "ghost troops" for allowing Kabul to fall into Taliban hands after the United States removed all military personnel from the nation.</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="16">Khalid Payenda, who resigned from his job immediately after the Taliban took control in August, told the BBC that corrupt officials created over 300,000 troops and police to pad government books so generals could pocket their salary and receive money from the Taliban.</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="17">He claimed that the "ghost troops" existed only on paper.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wion-exclusive-life-under-taliban-living-in-the-land-of-zombies-416292"><strong>Also read | WION exclusive: Life under Taliban- ‘Living in the land of zombies’</strong></a></p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo">Payenda said that documents stating government security numbers large enough to overpower the Taliban were false.&nbsp;</div>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="19">"The way the accountability was done, you would ask the chief in that province how many people you have and based on that you could calculate salaries and ration expenses and they would always be inflated," he said.<br />
<br />
<strong>Watch | WION Exclusive: Women-run studio of Baano TV forced to shut down in Kabul</strong></p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/wion-exclusive-women-run-studio-of-baano-tv-forced-to-shut-down-in-kabul-417048/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="20">Payenda said that certain commanders would hold bank cards of people who were never found in order to steal their pay.</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="21">He speculated that the figures may have been exaggerated by more than six times.</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="22">The ex-finance minister made the "ghost" assertion for the first time in September, telling Afghanistan Analysts Network that military figures were "all a fraud."</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="23">He calculated that Afghanistan had 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers at most.&nbsp;</p>

<p data-changed="false" data-paragraphid="24"><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


Afghanistan's former finance minister blames hundreds of thousands of "ghost troops" for allowing Kabul to fall into Taliban hands after the United States removed all military personnel from the nation.

Afghanistan's former finance minister blames hundreds of thousands of "ghost troops" for allowing Kabul to fall into Taliban hands after the United States removed all military personnel from the nation. Khalid Payenda, who resigned from his job immediately after the Taliban took control in August, told the BBC that corrupt officials created over 300,000 troops and police to pad government books so generals could pocket their salary and receive money from the Taliban. He claimed that the "ghost troops" existed only on paper. Also read | WION exclusive: Life under Taliban- ‘Living in the land of zombies’ Payenda said that documents stating government security numbers large enough to overpower the Taliban were false. "The way the accountability was done, you would ask the chief in that province how many people you have and based on that you could calculate salaries and ration expenses and they would always be inflated," he said. Watch | WION Exclusive: Women-run studio of Baano TV forced to shut down in Kabul Payenda said that certain commanders would hold bank cards of people who were never found in order to steal their pay. He speculated that the figures may have been exaggerated by more than six times. The ex-finance minister made the "ghost" assertion for the first time in September, telling Afghanistan Analysts Network that military figures were "all a fraud." He calculated that Afghanistan had 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers at most. (With inputs from agencies)

Taliban easily won Afghanistan because 300,000-strong army did not exist: Ex-finance minister

<p>Times change, but they changed VERY quickly for Afghanistan. It was anticipated that Taliban would recapture power after USA's hasty retreat but the pace of it has surprised everyone. The deposed Afghan president himself is in UAE and thousands of Afghans have escaped the country fearing the Taliban rule.</p>

<p>That the government has collapsed is a known fact, but what are all the ministers doing now is not common knowledge. A former Afghan minister being seen delivering pizzas is hence creating a lot of buzz online.</p>

<p>Photos of Afghanistan's former information and technology minister Syed Ahmad Shah Saadat in an orange shirt and on a bicycle did rounds on social media on Wednesday. The photos reportedly were taken when he was delivering pizza in Germany. Some of the images were tweeted by Al Jazeera Arabia.</p>

<p>The pics were reportedly clicked by a local journalist</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="de">Vor ein paar Tagen lernte ich einen Mann kennen, der behauptete, vor zwei Jahren afghanischer Kommunikationsminister gewesen zu sein. Ich fragte, was er in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Leipzig?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Leipzig</a> mache. „Ich fahre für Lieferando Essen aus.“ <a href="https://t.co/nafutTTXqP">pic.twitter.com/nafutTTXqP</a></p>
— Josa Mania-Schlegel (@JosaMania) <a href="https://twitter.com/JosaMania/status/1428983082724569097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>It was reported that Saadat himself confirmed to Sky News that the images doing rounds were of him.</p>

<p>Reportedly an Oxford graduate, Saadat joined Ashraf Ghani's cabinet in 2018. He served for two years before quitting. He then arrived in Germany in 2020.</p>


Times change, but they changed VERY quickly for Afghanistan. It was anticipated that Taliban would recapture power after USA's hasty retreat but the pace of it has surprised everyone.

Times change, but they changed VERY quickly for Afghanistan. It was anticipated that Taliban would recapture power after USA's hasty retreat but the pace of it has surprised everyone. The deposed Afghan president himself is in UAE and thousands of Afghans have escaped the country fearing the Taliban rule. That the government has collapsed is a known fact, but what are all the ministers doing now is not common knowledge. A former Afghan minister being seen delivering pizzas is hence creating a lot of buzz online. Photos of Afghanistan's former information and technology minister Syed Ahmad Shah Saadat in an orange shirt and on a bicycle did rounds on social media on Wednesday. The photos reportedly were taken when he was delivering pizza in Germany. Some of the images were tweeted by Al Jazeera Arabia. The pics were reportedly clicked by a local journalist Vor ein paar Tagen lernte ich einen Mann kennen, der behauptete, vor zwei Jahren afghanischer Kommunikationsminister gewesen zu sein. Ich fragte, was er in #Leipzig mache. „Ich fahre für Lieferando Essen aus.“ pic.twitter.com/nafutTTXqP — Josa Mania-Schlegel (@JosaMania) August 21, 2021 × It was reported that Saadat himself confirmed to Sky News that the images doing rounds were of him. Reportedly an Oxford graduate, Saadat joined Ashraf Ghani's cabinet in 2018. He served for two years before quitting. He then arrived in Germany in 2020.

Former Afghanistan minister now delivers pizzas in Germany: Report

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Afghanistan-Pakistan: Afghan minister warns Pakistan not to test patience amid rising tensions

Taliban easily won Afghanistan because 300,000-strong army did not exist: Ex-finance minister

Former Afghanistan minister now delivers pizzas in Germany: Report