Bloodshed again: Many feared killed after Taliban fires at protestors

If the Taliban takeover of Kabul looked simple and fast, the resulting protests on the streets bear testimony to the fact that the Afghan citizens are not willing to take the transition of power lying down.

A day after three people were killed and many more were injured in Jalalabad city for carrying Afghanistan national flag, many more were killed on Thursday (August 19) in Asadabad in Kunar province when Talibanis opened fire at people waving the national flag at Afghanistan’s Independence Day rally. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from Jalalabad and a district of Paktia province.

Afghanistan celebrates its 1919 independence from British control on August 19.

Taliban has not come out in the open about the increasing protests, but the people’s uprising definitely is a cause for worry for the militant outfit, especially because the Afghan army caved in to the Taliban pressure without much resistance.

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Mohammed Salim, an eye witness, told Reuters that it is not clear yet if the deaths in Asadabad were a result of firing or stampede that that followed firing.

“Hundreds of people came out on the streets. At first I was scared and didn’t want to go but when I saw one of my neighbours joined in I took out the flag I have at home. Several people were killed and injured in the stampede and firing by the Taliban,” said Salim.

On Wednesday (August 18), three people were killed and 12 wounded after armed militants fired at protesters in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad city.

Eyewitnesses say the incident happened when some residents of Jalalabad, located about 115 km from Kabul, tried to unfurl Afghanistan’s national flag at Pashtunistan Square. Besides Jalalabad, Kunar and Khost cities also reported demonstrations by people opposing the Talibans.

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Meanwhile, first Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who is trying to pose a challenge to the Taliban, supported the protesters. “Salute those who carry the national flag and thus stand for dignity of the nation,” he said on Twitter.

A Taliban spokesperson said on Thursday, “We have not attacked anyone. We are telling the world, we want diplomatic relations with everyone but we won’t accept anyone’s interference in our religious affairs. We won’t accept anyone’s force or surrender to anyone’s weapons. Those days are over.”