Protesters took to the streets to rally against Taliban rule for the second day on Thursday, this time marching in Kabul, including near the presidential palace. At one demonstration in the city, about 200 people had gathered before the Taliban broke it up violently, reports the New York Times. This is even as a Taliban spokesperson said China could contribute to the development of Afghanistan in the future.
The Taliban announced a curfew in the southeastern city of Khost, also on Thursday, after protests there. Authorities did not say how long it would be in effect. And several people were killed in the eastern city of Asadabad when Taliban fighters fired on people waving the national flag at a rally Thursday, Afghanistan’s annual Independence Day, according to a witness cited by Reuters. It was not clear whether the casualties had come from the gunshots or from a stampede they set off, the witness, Mohammed Salim, was quoted by the news agency as saying.
It was a remarkable display of defiance, coming just one day after violence broke out at protests in two other cities, with Taliban members shooting into crowds and beating demonstrators. It was also further evidence that while tens of thousands are now seeking escape, there were many more left behind and determined to have a voice in the kind of country in which they live.
After sweeping so quickly into power, the reality of governing a changed nation is proving as difficult for the Taliban as their military blitz across the nation’s provinces was fast. Many critical workers are hiding in their homes, fearful of retribution despite promises of amnesty. And services like electricity, sanitation and clean water could soon be affected, aid agencies say. While the Taliban, for now, have a monopoly on the use of force, there is no functioning police service in any traditional sense. Instead, former fighters are patrolling checkpoints and — in many cases, according to witness accounts — administering the law as they see fit, reports the New York Times.
The Taliban leadership’s suggestion this week that the brutality that defined their rule two decades ago was a thing of the past has not always been matched by the actions of the foot soldiers on the street. Taliban members are intensifying a search for people who they believe worked with US and NATO forces, including among the crowds of Afghans outside Kabul’s airport, and have threatened to kill or arrest their family members if they cannot find them, according to a confidential United Nations document.
Meanwhile, a small group of women holding placards and demanding equal rights on the streets of Kabul were also seen as a silver lining and ray of hope. “Despite all the fears, women have taken to the streets in the last three days and demanded their rights through civil movements. Some have demanded that their rights not be sacrificed, and the achievements of the past few years preserved. This is great courage that these women have shown against the Taliban on the roads in Kabul,” a woman said.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said China could contribute to the development of Afghanistan in the future, Chinese state media reported. Suhail Shaheen made the remark in an interview with China’s state CGTN television, Al Jazeera reported.