Afghanistan: Taliban Ask Imams to Urge People Not to Flee at Friday Prayers

In the past few days, as resistance erupted, casualties were reported in the eastern city of Asadabad.

Taliban fighters pose for a photograph in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(Photo: PTI)

As protests against Taliban's seizure spread to more cities of Afghanistan, the militant group approached the imams in the country to urge unity and ask people not to flee during their first Friday prayers since the collapse of the government, Reuters reported.

Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on Sunday, 15 August, with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the war-torn country.

In the past few days, as resistance erupted across the region, casualties were reported in the eastern city of Asadabad, and a witness also reported gunshots near a rally in Kabul.

The shots had later appeared to be Taliban firing into the air, Reuters reported.

On Afghanistan's independence day, visuals emerging from Kabul also showed Afghans erecting a national flag in Abdul Haq square in Kabul. However, subsequently, the Taliban is reported to have replaced the black, red, and green national flag with their own white flag.

Taliban offered no comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, the airport in Kabul continues to bear witness to acute panic, with swarms of Afghans attempting to escape the Taliban rule, but reportedly being held back by militants and locked gates.

Visuals have also emerged of babies being passed to the front of the crowds and handed over to Americans soldier by parents seeking to at least get their children out of Afghanistan.