A retired officer of the Ministry of Defense of the previous government and his wife, a retired employee of the University of Kabul's publication department, have been selling street food in PD15 of Kabul for the past seven months to meet their daily needs.

Shah Maqsood and his wife Mahbuba said they have been struggling with economic challenges recently and are demanding their retirement pensions.

Shah Maqsood, 67, who served nearly four decades as an officer in various departments of the Ministry of Defense in the previous governments, said he turned to selling bolani (a traditional Afghan street food) from the beginning of last winter due to economic challenges and not receiving his pension.

Shah Maqsood told TOLOnews: "We cooked spaghetti, made tea, and my wife brewed saffron tea; but it didn't work out until my wife started selling bolani. We had a cart under a shade, and then a benevolent person appeared, who has not introduced himself to this day, and gave us 50,000 Afs (around $700) to build this booth."

Mahbuba, Shah Maqsood's wife, said: "I am so grateful to the government that they allowed us to set up a booth here. This booth was also built by a benevolent person who didn't even tell us his name."

Although this elderly man has managed to expand his business to some extent, the income he earns from it is not sufficient to support his life.

This retired officer said: "Pension is our right, it would be great if they pay it. My wife is also retired, and it has been four years since the last time I received my pension."

Due to increasing poverty and unemployment in the country, more people have turned to small jobs.

Shah Maqsood earns up to 400 Afs (around $5) a day from selling bolani and called on organizations that support small businesses to help develop his business.