Despite the assurances of the Taliban, on the third day of the Islamic Emirate there is chaos and tensions in some cities of Afghanistan. Protests are reported in Jalalabad , the capital of the province of Nangarhar, where the Taliban opened fire on a group of demonstrators causing at least two dead and 10 injured, while some journalists were reportedly beaten.
In the capital of the province of Nangarhar, in the east of the country, hundreds of people took to the streets armed with Afghan flags, as opposed to that of the Taliban, the ‘new masters’ of Afghanistan.
Statue of Shiite leader who fought the Taliban destroyed
According to reports from Al Jazeera, in the province of Bamiyan, the statue of Abdul Ali Mazari, a Shiite leader who fought the Taliban during the civil war in the 1990s, was destroyed. Mazari, a charismatic member of the Hazara minority, was assassinated by the Taliban in 1996, when the group then led by Mullah Omar took power in the country. The province of Bamiyan is infamous for having also hosted the huge statues of the Buddhas that were destroyed with dynamite by the Taliban shortly before the US military intervention in 2001.
Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah and Anas Haqqani meet
In Kabul there was a meeting between the former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, the former ‘chief executive’ and representative for the peace negotiations Abdullah Abdullah and Anas Haqqani. This was reported by Tolo News, that published some images without providing other details. The news was also reported by the Pajhwok agency, which speaks of the arrival in Kabul of a Taliban delegation led by Anas Haqqani. Anas Haqqani – part of the Taliban political office according to Tolo News – is the brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the infamous jihadist network (founded by his father Jalaluddin) and one of the deputies of the Taliban.
Afghans camping around Kabul Airport in hundreds
Hundreds of Afghans are camped around the Kabul airport in the hope of being able to leave the country, the German news agency DW said, citing local witnesses. Men, women and children spent the night in the streets leading to the airport following the spread of the false news that anyone who showed up at the airport would be able to leave.
“We are collaborating with the Taliban on the ground and it seems to be a very direct relationship,” said British Chief of Staff Nick Carter, interviewed by Sky News, saying that “the situation is very calm at the moment”. “They are helping us at the airport”, he said. There was chaos at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where after the chaos and unrest on Monday, flights resumed yesterday with the evacuation of Western citizens and thousands of Afghan refugees. The British general also said the Taliban “are keeping the streets of Kabul very safe and very calm.”
Princess Soraya “I mourn the tragedy of my people”
“What is happening to my people is a tragedy. We Afghans knew it would happen. For some time there had been talk of agreements with the Taliban. They all failed. NATO, the West, the Americans. Welcomed as liberators, fled as thieves of hens ,” said Princess Soraya of Afghanistan, granddaughter of King Amanullah who was deposed in 1929 after an armed insurrection, in an exclusive interview with an Italian News agency Adnkronos.
“I am not interested in the failure of the West and the US in Afghanistan, but the fate of my people, I fear above all for the women, for the girls, for the activists who have had so much courage in recent years, I fear for all the collaborators who have worked for the reconstruction and who are now abandoned to their fate, “she said.
