Taliban kill three during protest for carrying Afghan national flag
Aug 19, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan], August 19 : The Taliban on Thursday killed three people for carrying the Afghan national flag in Asadabad city of Kunar province.
The protests linked to the flag are being seen as a nascent symbol of resistance against the terrorist outfit after its takeover of Afghanistan.
The Taliban shelled a car covered in national Afghan flags, killing three persons, reported Sputnik.
Al Jazeera's Charlotte Bellis, reporting from Kabul, said: "There were some isolated protests linked to the flag in Kabul as well, with people, including women, walking down the streets past Taliban fighters waving the old flag and saying: 'Our flag is our identity.'"
It was Afghanistan's Independence Day on Thursday.
Rashid Khan, cricketer and captain of the country's T-20I team, wished his countrymen on the occasion of Afghanistan's Independence Day.
"Today let us take some time to value our nation and never forget the sacrifices. We hope and pray for the peaceful, developed and United nation INSHALLAH. Happy Independence Day," he said in a tweet.
Thursday's incident in Asadabad took place after three Afghans were shot dead on Wednesday in Jalalabad during a protest rally held against the removal of the Afghan flag by the Taliban.
Several provinces across Afghanistan witnessed protests with Afghans taking to the streets holding Afghanistan's national flag, which is no longer in use since the Taliban took Kabul city.
Residents in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Khost on Wednesday publically rallied under the Afghan national flag, TOLO news said.
Since Afghanistan fell to the terrorist group on Sunday, the Taliban have sought to present an image of themselves as more progressive, inclusive and restrained -- claiming that they will not seek retribution against their political enemies.
Members of the Taliban's sophisticated communications operation have been increasingly visible in the first days of the new regime, telling international journalists at every opportunity that the group will form an "inclusive Islamic government."
But the actions have dashed hopes that the Taliban might have changed in the intervening decades.
