Afghanistan: Protests Erupt In Jalalabad and Asadabad, At Least 3 Dead

OAN: Protesters chanted out “our flag, our identity” against the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, which has already killed and injured civilians. A Taliban source said on Wednesday that the protests erupted in Jalalabad in Eastern Afghanistan and in Asadabad, a province of Kunar, after local residents took to the streets with an Afghan flag.

Protesters demanded that the Taliban form a government that includes all of the country’s political forces and ethnic groups. The demonstrators said they would like to see the Taliban convince civilians they have changed and will not go back to their old ways.

The Taliban attempted to disperse the protests, in turn, killing at least 3 people and injuring dozens of others. Security experts warned the Taliban is ready to use violence to solidify its grip on power. more

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Taliban Are Rounding Up Afghans On Blacklist – Private Intel Report

OSLO (Reuters) – The Taliban have begun rounding up Afghans on a blacklist of people they believe have worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.S.-led forces that supported it, according to a report by a Norwegian intelligence group.

The report, compiled by the RHIPTO Norwegian Center for Global Analyses and seen by Reuters, said the Taliban were hunting individuals linked to the previous administration, which fell on Sunday when the Islamist militant movement took Kabul.

“Taliban are intensifying the hunt-down of all individuals and collaborators with the former regime, and if unsuccessful, target and arrest the families and punish them according to their own interpretation of Sharia law,” said the report, dated Wednesday.

“Particularly at risk are individuals in central positions in military, police and investigative units.” more

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Taliban Urge Afghan Unity As Protests Spread To Kabul

KABUL (Reuters) -The Taliban called on Afghanistan’s imams to urge unity when they hold their first Friday prayers since the Islamist group seized control of the country, as protests against the takeover spread to more cities on Thursday, including the capital Kabul.

Several people were killed when Taliban militants fired on a crowd in the eastern city of Asadabad, a witness said. Another witness reported gunshots near a rally in Kabul, but they appeared to be Taliban firing into the air.

On the day Afghanistan celebrates its independence from British control in 1919, a social media video showed a crowd of men and women in Kabul waving black, red and green national flags. “Our flag, our identity,” they shouted.

At some protests elsewhere, media reported people tearing down the white flag of the Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman was not immediately available for comment. MORE