Afghans protest against Taliban rule on Independence Day

Hundreds of Afghans on Thursday trooped out across major cities in Afghanistan to protest Taliban forceful takeover of power.

Opposition to the Taliban rule has spread across the country amid international condemnations.

Reuters reports that hundreds of flag-weaving protesters took to the streets in Kabul, Asadabad and several cities to voice their opposition to the Taliban Islamic rule.

Witnesses said several people were killed when the militants fired on a crowd in Asadabad in the east.

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There are media reports that protest in some other cities turned violence earlier in the day, while people were seen tearing down the white flag of the Taliban.

The Protests are held on a day Afghanistan celebrates independence from British control in 1919. A witness reported gunshots fired near the rally, but they appeared to be armed Taliban shooting in the air.

One woman walked with an Afghan flag wrapped around her shoulders, and those marching chanted, “God is greatest”.

Analysts say the protests perhaps underline the challenge the Taliban would face to govern the country.

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The protests are holding amid rush by thousands of people to get to Kabul airport and flee the country. Several western countries have also intensified efforts to evacuate their nationals from Afghanistan since the Taliban took the country of Kabu on Sunday.

The Islamist group conquered Afghanistan at lightning speed in the last few weeks as foreign troops withdrew, consolidating it capture of other cities by gaining country of the country’s capital Kabul after the President and government official had flee.