Taliban Takeover: First Signs of Protests Seen in Parts of Afghanistan, Several Killed | 10 Points | Earth Indian

Kabul: Scores of horrifying videos and heart-wrenching images have poured in from Afghanistan capturing global attention over the past week as the Taliban took charge, toppling a government whose leaders fled the nation “to prevent bloodshed”. Reports of sporadic violence surfaced from several cities on Wednesday and Thursday and at least three people died in Asadabad during a protest to mark Afghan Independence Day. Meanwhile, thousands of people continue to crowd the Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to escape as several countries conduct evacuation operations.

Here’s your 10-point development for the day:

1. Protests were seen across several Afghanistan provinces as Afghan nationals took to the streets holding the country’s national flag, which is no longer in use since the Taliban took Kabul city. Residents in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Khost on Wednesday publicly rallied under the Afghan national flag, Afghan media reported.
2. At least two people were reportedly shot dead and 12 others were injured by the Taliban in Nangarhar province during a similar demonstration.
3. Later in the day, several people were reportedly killed in Asadabad, where white Taliban flags were torn down, in the first signs of popular opposition. However, it was not clear if people were killed from Taliban firing or from a stampede that it triggered. Protests also flared up in Jalalabad and another district of Paktia province, both in East Afghanistan.
4. “Nations must respect the rule of law, not violence. Afghanistan is too big for Pakistan to swallow and too big for Talibs to govern. Don’t let your histories have a chapter on humiliation and bowing to terror groups,” said Amrullah Saleh, acting president of Afghanistan, who is trying to rally opposition to the Taliban.
5. Meanwhile, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan the day Taliban invaded Kabul, released a first video message since the escape and said he was ‘in talks to return’ home.
6. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund blocked Afghanistan’s IMF resources, including a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights reserves, due to a lack of clarity over the recognition of its government after the Taliban seized control of Kabul. The IMF also said that the new terror group-led government will not be allowed to access loans or other resources from the 190-nation lending organisation.
7. US President Joe Biden, who has been heavily criticised for the withdrawal agreement of US military forces, said he was committed to keeping US troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his August 31 deadline.
8. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has distanced itself from the “opinions” made by some of its members in support of the Taliban.
9. Ministry of External Affairs S Jaishankar, at the UNSC briefing, launched a veiled attack on Pakistan saying groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed still operate with both impunity and encouragement, whether in Afghanistan or against India. He also urged “All Indian nationals in Afghanistan requiring assistance to contact Special Afghanistan Cell, if not done so already.”
10. At the meeting, Davood Moradian, who escaped from Kabul after the Taliban takeover, noted that one of those who tragically fell from a US Air Force plane departing from Kabul airport was reportedly a member of the Afghanistan national football team.

The Taliban insurgents swept Kabul on Sunday after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and President Ghani fled the country, bringing an unprecedented end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform the war-ravaged nation.

By Shivam Urkude || Earth Indian