Fresh chaos descended in Kabul today as thousands of Afghans desperate to escape Taliban rule pleaded with troops to be allowed on planes out of the country after the militants used whips, sharp objects, and gunfire to bead back crowds outside the city’s airport.
One man was photographed with tears streaming down his cheeks, his face contorted in anguish as he saw his fellow Afghans being whipped. The Taliban then opened fire to drive the masses back from the site.
Women were filmed reaching their hands through iron railings towards US troops while screaming ‘the Taliban are coming’ in footage being circulated on Afghan social media accounts this morning.
Taliban fire into crowd, beat protesters: reports
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 won’t impose the same draconian restrictions they did when they last ruled Afghanistan, all but eliminating women’s rights, carrying out public executions and harboring al-Qaida in the years before the 9/11 attacks.
BREAKING: Taliban opens fire on protesters in Jalalabad because they were reportedly waiving the Afghan flag.
— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) August 18, 2021
