Taliban disperse protesters in Kabul; two killed in Herat
Tense scenes unfold near Pak embassy in Kabul and also in Herat as protesters confront Taliban
KABUL/DOHA: The Taliban fired into the air on Tuesday in Kabul to disperse protesters and arrested several journalists, while two people were reportedly shot dead and eight wounded in a protest in the western Afghan city of Herat.
In the shooting incident in Herat, the bodies were brought to the city’s central hospital from the site of the protest, a doctor, who asked not to be named out of fear of reprisals, told AFP. “They all have bullet wounds,” he said.
In Kabul, demonstrators gathered outside the Pakistan embassy to protest over Islamabad allegedly aiding the Taliban’s assault on Panjshir province. Dozens of women were among the protesters on Tuesday. Some of them carried signs lamenting the killing of youngsters by Taliban fighters who they say were aided by Pakistan.
Blinken to testify in US Senate on Afghanistan
US secretary of state Antony Blinken will testify before the US Senate foreign relations committee in a hearing examining the country’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the committee said in an announcement on its website on Tuesday.
Earlier, Blinken said the Taliban has committed to letting Afghans freely leave the country, as he held talks in Qatar aimed at speeding up evacuations.
The US is facing mounting pressure as activists say several hundred people, also including Americans, are being prevented from flying out of an airport in the northern city of Mazar-i-sharif. But Blinken said the US was in touch with the Taliban and believes they are cooperating.
“We are not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft or any hostage-like situation,” Blinken said in Doha where he and defence secretary Lloyd Austin met their Qatari counterparts.
Taliban regime keen to join CPEC projects
Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid has expressed the group’s “desire” to join the China-pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to ANI. He also said the Taliban will address Islamabad’s concerns about Pakistan-based terror group TTP.