Anti-Taliban protests rock Kandahar for second day after mass evacuation notice

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<strong>Massive protests continue in Kandahar for a second day running as thousands of Afghans were handed a three-day notice by the Taliban to vacate a residential army colony, their home for several years.  </strong></p>
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Social media has been flooded with videos and photographs of local citizens holding a massive protest rally in front of the governor's office and also blocking several key roads in the area.  <br />
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It is being believed that over 3500 families residing in the area will be affected by the Taliban order.  </p>
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News agency Reuters reported that the affected area is predominantly occupied by the families of retired army generals and other members of the Afghan security forces.</p>
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Taliban ordered mass evacuation in Kandahar. The former <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ANDSFs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ANDSFs</a> families are targeted. All this is part of political engineering to institutionalize taliban rule. Such political engineering would have huge repercussions for "Afghan" identity in future. <a href="https://t.co/R4UznMYWJ9">pic.twitter.com/R4UznMYWJ9</a></p>
— Ulus yar (@ulusyar3) <a href="https://twitter.com/ulusyar3/status/1437841261046677511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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"The families, some of whom had lived in the district for almost 30 years, had been given three days to vacate," the report said quoting a former government official who had spoken to some of those affected.<br />
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Viral footage on social media showed several women and children, carrying the Afghanistan flag in their hands, also joining the protest rally.<br />
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CNN <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/14/asia/kandahar-protest-evictions-afghanistan-intl-hnk/index.html">reported</a> that, according to Millat Zagh Radio, a local radio station, there were reports of the Taliban stopping and beating journalists who were covering the demonstration.<br />
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The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) had last week said that peaceful protesters in many parts of Afghanistan have been met with an increasingly violent response – including the use of live ammunition, batons and whips – by the new Taliban authorities over the past few weeks.  </p>
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"We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force towards, and the arbitrary detention of, those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the journalists covering the protests," said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.<br />
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"As Afghan women and men take to the streets during this time of great uncertainty, it is crucial that those in power listen to their voices," she had added.<br />
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According to the UN office, on September 7, during a protest in Herat, the Taliban reportedly shot and killed two men and wounded seven more. That same day in Kabul, further credible reports indicated that the Taliban beat and detained protesters, including several women and up to 15 journalists.   </p>
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