KABUL - Sources inside the Presidential Palace's Administrative Affairs Office have reported that a large number of employees in the executive branch have not been paid their salaries for several months.

The sources spoke to TOLOnews on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject.

Meanwhile, Kabul University Lecturer Qais Mohammadi has substantiated the claims, claiming the number of national unity government employees who have worked unpaid for months could be in the thousands.

"The information that we have from the Presidential Palace is that around 2,000 employees of the Palace and its Administrative Affairs Office have been not paid salaries for the past six months, which is more due to political reasons than financial ones," Mohammadi told TOLOnews.

Political analysts have suggested the payments could be getting withheld because elements within the government hope to pressure older employees, many of who transitioned over from the Hamid Karzai administration, to leave their jobs and make room for new staff.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the salaries for all employees of the national unity government are covered in the national budget, and if there are any payment issues they should be raised with the ministry.

"Each administration is included in the national budget and if their employees' salaries are not paid then they can apply to the ministry and the ministry will solve their problem," MoF spokesman Abdul Rahim Alizai said on Monday.

According to the sources who spoke to TOLOnews on condition of anonymity, a number of employees of the president's office have left their jobs after not receiving their salaries for several months. Some of the disgruntled former employees have reportedly gone to work for former president Hamid Karzai.

Officially, the Administrative Affairs Office and spokesmen for the president have declined to comment on the subject. (Tolonews)