Nineveh families protest sudden suspension of terrorism-victim pensions
Shafaq News- Nineveh
Dozens of families of victims of terrorism protested outside the Martyrs Foundation office in Nineveh on Tuesday after their pension payments were abruptly suspended without an official explanation.
Protesters told Shafaq News that many affected families rely almost entirely on the payments and were shocked to find them halted.
Ali Saleh Ammash al-Mafarji, whose family had lost two members to terrorism, said beneficiaries learned of the suspension on Tuesday morning. "We were surprised to find the salaries cut without knowing why. When we approached the foundation's administration, we were told the decision had come from Baghdad."
"Around 3,000 beneficiaries have been affected by the suspension under the pretext of routine administrative procedures," he said.
"If these procedures take years, how are these families supposed to live?" he asked, urging the prime minister to intervene and investigate any corruption or manipulation involved.
Another beneficiary, Sami Younis, said families discovered the problem when they tried to withdraw their payments using bank cards and received notices showing that no funds were available.
Younis called on parliament and other authorities to address the issue, noting that many of the affected families include elderly people and patients who depend on the payments for living and medical expenses.
In October, Nineveh Governor Abdul Qadir al-Dakhil said the Finance Ministry owed the province more than 1.5 trillion dinars, about $1 billion, in unpaid allocations, including compensation for victims of terrorism and military operations. He added that the province was also seeking 534 billion dinars (about $351 million) for roughly 44,000 compensation claims that had already been processed and approved under Law No. 20 of 2009. "Only about 382 billion dinars had been paid under the law."
Families of people killed in military operations and terrorist attacks have also protested delays in amendments to the compensation law, calling for faster action on the third amendment to Law No. 20.
