Taliban violently disperse rare protest; 1 killed, 6 wounded
Source: AP
By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON and JOSEPH KRAUSS
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) The Taliban violently broke up a protest in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person as they quashed a rare public show of dissent. The militant group meanwhile met with former officials from the toppled Western-backed government.
The insurgents every action in their sudden sweep to power is being watched closely. They insist they have changed and wont impose the same draconian restrictions they did when they last ruled Afghanistan, all but eliminating womens rights, carrying out public executions and harboring al-Qaida in the years before the 9/11 attacks.
But many Afghans remain deeply skeptical, and the violent response to Wednesdays protest could only fuel their fears. Thousands are racing to the airport and borders to flee the country. Many others are hiding inside their homes, fearful after prisons and armories were emptied during the insurgents blitz across the country.
Dozens of people gathered in the eastern city of Jalalabad to raise the national flag a day before Afghanistans Independence Day, which commemorates the end of British rule in 1919. They lowered the Taliban flag a white banner with an Islamic inscription that the militants have raised in the areas they captured.
Taliban fighters patrol in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. The Taliban declared an "amnesty" across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/religion-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-taliban-civil-wars-61e4bfcc8027e3952ee85c448773299b
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)The Taliban want to go back several centuries.
Evolve Dammit
(16,632 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(56,909 posts)LiberatedUSA
(1,666 posts)Bluepinky
(2,260 posts)Who doesnt feel safer with a group of men patrolling their neighborhood carrying assault weapons?
EarlG
(21,894 posts)Bluepinky
(2,260 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)onecaliberal
(32,489 posts)Turbineguy
(37,213 posts)that the Taliban used for executing people. The Europeans said something about it and the Taliban spokesman told them they needed to pay for a place to shoot people, that way they would not have to use the stadium.
riversedge
(69,731 posts)The #Taliban say they have changed but they are as brutal as ever!
Lonestarblue
(9,883 posts)Their foot soldiers are still the backward, murderous terrorists the Taliban has always beenand will continue to be. They arent much different from the right-wing religious extremists and anti-government militias here.
nowforever
(291 posts)The media all of a sudden is truly concerned about the Afghani people and they are omniscient when it comes to what should have been done to save them. If this country still had a military draft there never would have been an Iraq or Afghan war, but it is so exciting to fight for freedom and bring death to foreign lands when your ass is safe.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)on Lincoln's birthday...people would be pissed off. Once again, everything the British touched in the region seems to made things worse, since 1842.