Indiscriminate firing by Taliban on protesters hoisting Afghan national flag

Kabul – Thursday marks 102 years since Afghanistan gained independence from the British. On this occasion, Afghans in different cities, including the capital Kabul, took to the streets to hoist the national flag and protest against the Taliban. Locals say several people have been killed in the indiscriminate Taliban firing on Afghan protesters hoisting the national flag in Kunar province near the Pakistani border. Thus, the Taliban has cracked down on protesters in various parts of Afghanistan. The Taliban is not ready to say exactly how many people were killed. Even the international media and human rights organisations are not prepared to show sensitivity in this regard.

For the past two days, Taliban leaders have been claiming that the rights of Afghans will remain unaffected, women will have access to education and other rights, and the media will have freedom. But on Thursday, Afghanistan’s Independence Day, the Taliban’s firing in the capital, Kabul, and Assadabad paint a different picture. Taliban militants fired indiscriminately on Afghans gathered at Kabul International Airport.

The Taliban has fired a female news correspondent working for an Afghan news channel since the last few years and replaced her with one of its terrorists. Despite announcing women’s rights, the news correspondent accused the Taliban, on social media, of actually abusing women. In Faryab province, a woman who refused to help Taliban militants was stabbed to death in front of her children by the Taliban.

On Thursday, Afghans in different cities hoisted national flags and chanted slogans against the Taliban regime. In some places, there were violent clashes between the Afghan people and Taliban protesters. In Assadabad, Taliban militants fired indiscriminately and tried to disperse the protesters. News channels are claiming that two people were killed in the shooting. But eyewitnesses say the actual death toll is much higher. Even after the Taliban’s firing, videos have surfaced of some Afghans hoisting national flags and condemning Pakistan.