Wages have not been paid in five months and what booty was grabbed on the way to Kabul has been cashed in and spent, according to several junior ranking troops.
Commanders said they might be paid a month's salary -- ranging from US$21 to US$36 -- in time for Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, which begins today. But for some that will not be enough.
"I have had to borrow money since coming to Kabul and it'll take three months' salary to pay it off," said Joma Khan, 33, wandering through a market with a rifle over a shoulder.
"There's good food and clothes here but I can't buy anything," Khan said.
A guard outside the culture ministry eyed passing barrows of dried fruit and complained of not being able to afford sweets for Id despite risking his life to expel the Taliban.
"It's not right," he said.
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