A man holds the flag of Afghanistan during a protest in Jalalabad on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. Taliban militants have attacked protesters in eastern Afghanistan who dared to take down their banner and replace it with the country’s flag. At least one person was killed in the attack that fueled fears about how the insurgents would govern this fractious nation. (AP Photo)
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.
“But what we absolutely have to remember is that they are not a homogenous organization,” stated Gen. Sir Nick Carter, head of the British Army. “You know the Taliban is a group of disparate tribal figures that come from all over rural Afghanistan and some of the behavior that we are hearing reported at the moment may not be in line with what the political commission wants its country to be in the future, but of course the reality is often different in different parts of the ground.”
Taliban responding to Jalalabad protests against removal of Afghan flag with force.
Three dead, more than a dozen injured.pic.twitter.com/vPLBKlcZrt
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) August 19, 2021
Security officials said the Taliban may not be able to enforce its political agenda and it may plunge Afghanistan into “tribal warfare,” which would eventually pull the Middle Eastern country apart.
Source: One America News Network
