Taliban shows true colours, detains woman governor

KABUL: As talks continue to form a Taliban government in power in Afghanistan, anti-Taliban protests are reported to be erupting in several provinces. Three people have been killed in a terrorist attack on a group of people trying to hoist the Afghan national flag in the western city of Jalalabad. Several people were injured in the clash. In many places, clashes between people and terrorists are intense.

The Taliban, which announced a general amnesty for officials yesterday, has detained woman governor Salima Mazari, who fought to the end in the Afghan conflict, international media reported. Salima is the ruler of Chaharkint district in Balkh province. When the Taliban surrendered before many provinces resisted, the Balkh province waged a fierce struggle led by Salima, who is a Shia. Indications are that the Taliban's retaliation against the minority Shia Muslims continues. A statue of Shia leader Abdul Ali Mazari, who was assassinated by the Taliban in 1996, was destroyed by Taliban as its video surfaced on social media.

Meanwhile, the United States announced an investigation into the tragedy at Kabul airport during a mass exodus yesterday. Seven people were killed Monday when they hung onto a U.S. cargo plane to escape. There were also footage of several people falling from the plane as it began to fly.

The exact number of people killed in the airport tragedy is not known. The real horror of the tragedy was revealed when the remains of a plane that had departed from Kabul and landed at Al Udaid Airport in Qatar were found. Many of those who flew with the plane while trying to escape in panic and got stuck in tires are thought to have been crushed to death. U.S. Air Force will check for the violation of protocol as the flight took off amid huge crowd.

The U.S. has frozen US bank accounts of the Afghan government. The Afghan National Bank's reserves are held in the United States. The US action comes due to the assessment that the Taliban government is abusing its bank accounts.