Afghans protest Taliban in emerging challenge to their rule

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON AND JON GAMBRELL

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan protesters defied the Taliban for a 2nd time Thursday, waving their nationalist emblem successful scattered demonstrations, and the fighters again responded violently arsenic they faced down increasing challenges to their rule.

A U.N. authoritative warned of dire nutrient shortages and experts said the state was severely successful request of currency portion noting that the Taliban are improbable to bask the generous planetary assistance that the civilian authorities they dethroned did.

In airy of these challenges, the Taliban person moved rapidly to suppress immoderate dissent, contempt their promises that they person go much mean since they past ruled Afghanistan with draconian laws. Many fearfulness they volition win successful erasing 2 decades of efforts to grow women’s and quality rights and remake the country.

On Thursday, a procession of cars and radical adjacent Kabul’s airdrome carried agelong black, reddish and greenish banners successful grant of the Afghan emblem — a banner that is becoming a awesome of defiance. At different protestation successful Nangarhar province, video posted online showed a bleeding demonstrator with a gunshot wound. Onlookers tried to transportation him away.

In Khost province, Taliban authorities instituted a 24-hour curfew Thursday aft violently breaking up different protest, according to accusation obtained by journalists monitoring from abroad. The authorities did not instantly admit the objection oregon the curfew.

Protesters besides took the streets successful Kunar province, according to witnesses and societal media videos that lined up with reporting by The Associated Press.

The demonstrations — which travel arsenic Afghans celebrated Independence Day and immoderate commemorated the Shiite Ashoura festival — were a singular amusement of defiance aft the Taliban fighters violently dispersed a protestation Wednesday. At that rally, successful the eastbound metropolis of Jalalabad, demonstrators lowered the Taliban’s emblem and regenerate it with Afghanistan’s tricolor. At slightest 1 idiosyncratic was killed.

Meanwhile, absorption figures gathering successful the past country of the state not nether Taliban regularisation talked of launching an equipped absorption nether the banner of the Northern Alliance, which allied with the U.S. during the 2001 invasion.

It was not wide however superior a menace they posed fixed that Taliban fighters overran astir the full state successful a substance of days with small absorption from Afghan forces.

The Taliban truthful acold person offered nary specifics connected however they volition lead, different than to accidental they volition beryllium guided by Shariah, oregon Islamic, law. They are successful talks with elder officials of erstwhile Afghan governments. But they look an progressively precarious situation.

“A humanitarian situation of unthinkable proportions is unfolding earlier our eyes,” warned Mary Ellen McGroarty, the caput of the U.N.’s World Food Program successful Afghanistan.

Beyond the difficulties of bringing successful nutrient to the landlocked federation babelike connected imports, she said that drought has seen implicit 40% of the country’s harvest lost. Many who fled the Taliban beforehand present unrecorded successful parks and unfastened spaces successful Kabul.

“This is truly Afghanistan’s hr of top need, and we impulse the planetary assemblage to basal by the Afghan radical astatine this time,” she said.

Hafiz Ahmad, a shopkeeper successful Kabul, said immoderate nutrient has flowed into the capital, but prices person gone up. He hesitated to walk those costs onto his customers but said helium had to.

“It is amended to person it,” helium said. “If determination were nothing, past that would beryllium adjacent worse.”

Two of Afghanistan’s cardinal borderline crossings with Pakistan, Torkham adjacent Jalalabad and Chaman adjacent Spin Boldak, are present unfastened for trade. However, traders inactive fearfulness insecurity connected the roads and disorder implicit customs duties that could propulsion them to terms their goods higher.

Amid that uncertainty and concerns that the Taliban volition reimpose a brutal rule, which included mostly confining women to their homes and holding nationalist executions, galore Afghans are trying to fly the country.

At Kabul’s planetary airport, subject evacuation flights continued, according to flight-tracking data. However, entree to the airdrome remained difficult. On Thursday, Taliban fighters fired into the aerial to effort to power the crowds gathered astatine the airport’s blast walls. Men, women and children fled. Fighter jets aboriginal roared overhead, but nary airstrike accompanied their pass.

Overnight, President Joe Biden said that helium was committed to keeping U.S. troops successful Afghanistan until each American is evacuated, adjacent if that means maintaining a subject beingness determination beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal. In an interrogation with ABC’s “Good Morning America” aired Thursday, Biden said helium didn’t judge the Taliban had changed.

“I deliberation they’re going done benignant of an existential situation astir bash they privation to beryllium recognized by the planetary assemblage arsenic being a morganatic government,” Biden said. “I’m not definite they do.”

Indirectly acknowledging the absorption they face, the Taliban connected Thursday asked preachers to impulse congregants to stay successful the state and antagonistic “negative propaganda” against them.

The Taliban person besides urged radical to instrumentality to work, but astir authorities officials stay successful hiding oregon are themselves attempting to flee.

The caput of the country’s Central Bank warned that the proviso of carnal U.S. dollars is “close to zero,” which volition batter the currency, the afghani. The U.S. has seemingly frozen the country’s overseas reserves, and the International Monetary Fund chopped disconnected entree to loans oregon different resources for now.

“The afghani has been defended by virtually planeloads of U.S. dollars landing successful Kabul connected a precise regular basis, sometimes weekly,” said Graeme Smith, a advisor researcher with the Overseas Development Institute. “If the Taliban don’t get currency infusions soon to support the afghani, I deliberation there’s a existent hazard of a currency devaluation that makes it hard to bargain breadstuff connected the streets of Kabul for mean people.”

Still, Smith, who has written a publication connected Afghanistan, said the Taliban apt won’t inquire for the aforesaid billions successful planetary assistance sought by the country’s fallen civilian authorities — ample portions of which were siphoned disconnected by corruption. That could bounds the powerfulness of the planetary community’s menace of sanctions.

“You’re overmuch much apt to spot the Taliban positioning themselves arsenic benignant of gatekeepers to the planetary assemblage arsenic opposed to coming begging for billions of dollars,” helium said.

There has been nary equipped absorption to the Taliban. But videos from the Panjshir Valley northbound of Kabul, a stronghold of the Northern Alliance militias that allied with the U.S. during the 2001 penetration of Afghanistan, look to amusement imaginable absorption figures gathering there.

Those figures see members of the deposed authorities — Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who asserted connected Twitter that helium is the country’s rightful president, and Defense Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi — arsenic good arsenic Ahmad Massoud, the lad of the slain Northern Alliance person Ahmad Shah Massoud.

In an sentiment portion published by The Washington Post, Massoud asked for weapons and assistance to combat the Taliban.

“I constitute from the Panjshir Valley today, acceptable to travel successful my father’s footsteps, with mujahideen fighters who are prepared to erstwhile again instrumentality connected the Taliban,” helium wrote.

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Faiez reported from Istanbul, Gannon from Guelph, Canada, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Tameem Akhgar successful Istanbul, Edith M. Lederer astatine the United Nations and Munir Ahmed successful Islamabad contributed to this report.