Local media reported brief arrests of their employees by Taliban security forces. The demonstrators held signs that read “Pakistan – Pakistan – out of Afghanistan” or “Freedom” as shown on television images. According to a BBC reporter, protesters alleged that Pakistan helped the Taliban conquer Pandjir province, which fell to the Islamists on Monday after days of fighting. Many also mentioned the visit of the head of the Pakistani secret service ISI, Faeez Hamid, who met with the Taliban leadership in Kabul on Sunday and Monday.
Many Afghans, including previous government representatives, express the conviction that Pakistan supported the Taliban and helped them in their most recent military campaign in which they forcibly took over the country. Islamabad denies this.
National uprising
In a video of the protest shared on Twitter, a man said: “This is Kabul, men and women are on the streets chanting against Pakistan and against the Taliban”. “Freedom” calls can be heard again. These are probably an indication of the support for Akhmad Massud, who led the armed National Resistance Front in Punjir and has been in hiding since the Taliban took over the province by force. On Monday he had called all Afghans to a national uprising in an audio message and shortly afterwards only tweeted the word “freedom”.
Several local TV stations and the media said their employees had been arrested by the Taliban for several hours. ToloNews said a cameraman was released after almost three hours and that his camera and footage of the protest were returned to him.
Biggest protest so far
A foreign journalist tweeted a video showing the Taliban shooting in the air to drive away demonstrators. In the comment on the video, he writes that the Islamists also beat protesters. A video shared on social networks shows a Taliban fighter beating several women. The videos and information cannot be independently verified.
There have also been reports of protests from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in the north and Ferus Koh in central Afghanistan. A civil rights activist from Ferus Koh said the Taliban had banned local media from covering the demonstration. There had been several demonstrations in Afghanistan since the Islamists came to power. The protest in Kabul on Tuesday was the largest and most important to date.
“Basic supply collapses”
Ahead of a humanitarian donor conference for Afghanistan planned for Monday, the United Nations Emergency Relief Office (OCHA) reported a need of $ 606 million for the country by the end of the year. «Basic services in Afghanistan are collapsing. Food aid and other life-saving relief supplies are running out, ”said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke in Geneva on Tuesday. Aid organizations want to use the money to save almost eleven million people from hunger and ensure their survival.
During a visit to the Gulf emirate of Qatar on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was in contact with the Taliban to evacuate more people from the country. The aim is that further charter flights can safely leave the country. The Taliban had promised to allow all those who had travel documents to leave Afghanistan. Blinken also praised Qatar’s role in the evacuations in recent weeks. No country has done more than Qatar. (SDA / bra)