Taliban Rob Afghanistan Of 102 Years Independence, Clamp Down Oppositions
The Taliban in their swift move to deal with early opposition to their rule across Afghanistan have clashed with protesters, making the entire city stay indoors. An attempt to escape the country is evidence at Kabul’s international airport.
Taliban sources said a curfew would be imposed for an indefinite time at the entire southeastern Afghan city of Khost on August 19, 2021.
There are hundreds of people demonstrating against the militant group taking over power from Afghanistan.
The sources said that all kinds of movement will be banned while joint forces of the Islamic Emirate carry out clearance operations in the city.
About 650,000 Afghans live in the rural and urban areas of Khost province.
The shutdown of opposition undermines the Taliban’s repeated attempts to convince international media and observers that their rule will be more restrained and inclusive than it was two decades ago.
It is an indication that severe approaches have been taken. Tensions are heightened because August 19 is Afghanistan’s Independence Day, marking the date Britain relinquished power of the country in 1919.
Afghans outburst Kabul’s streets with national black, red, and green flags to mark their day in defiance of the Taliban.
In a footage trending on social media, on some occasions they removed the white and black Taliban flag; the Taliban fired into the air to break up the procession.
Earlier, militants fired into the crowd, beating protesters at a similar rally in Jalalabad, where demonstrators removed the group’s flag from the main square.
On the streets of Kabul, the safety of women who had occupied prominent positions in the past two decades is not guaranteed.
At the State capital’s airport, images of frantic Afghans looking for escape have underscored the unraveling of two decades of US involvement in the country.
The multitude swell, locals struggle to scale through Taliban checkpoints.
On Wednesday, according to White House reports, the US embassy in the city warned that it cannot ensure safe passage to the airport. It evacuated 1,800 individuals from Afghanistan over the past day and a total of 6,000 since Saturday.
After images emerged of mothers handing their babies to British soldiers over barbed wire outside the airport, the UK’s defense minister Ben Wallace said Thursday they cannot take unaccompanied minors.
He added it has been “very difficult” for troops “dealing with some desperate people, many of whom are just wanting to leave the country.”
Reuters reported that a total of 12 persons had been killed in and around the airport since the Taliban took control of the capital on Sunday.
The deaths, according to Reuters, were caused either by gunshots or stampedes of people trying to get into the airport in the hope of boarding an evacuation flight. Africa Investigative Magazine was unable to verify the reports.
A Dutch evacuation plane was forced to leave with no passengers on Wednesday, while the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, lamented that the bloc cannot rescue all Afghans seeking their way out.
Borrell said that the people have promoted and defended EU interests in Afghanistan over many years.
Hear him: “It’s our moral duty to protect them and to help to save as many people as possible. We cannot take all Afghan people out of the country.”