At least three people were killed and more than a dozen injured after Taliban militants opened fire during protests against the group in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, two witnesses told Reuters.
The witnesses said the deaths followed an attempt by local residents to install Afghanistan's national flag at a square in the city, some 150 km (90 miles) to the east of Kabul.
Video footage shot by Pajhwok Afghan News, a local news agency, showed protesters in the city who were carrying the Afghan flag fleeing with the sound of gunshots in the background.
A former police official told Reuters separately that four people had been killed and 13 injured in the protests, without elaborating further.
It was not possible to verify how the deaths occurred.
"There were some troublemakers who wanted to create issues for us," a Taliban militant present in Jalalabad at the time of the incident told Reuters. "These people are exploiting our relaxed policies."
Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment, reports Reuters.
'CHAOS OUT THERE'
But thousands of Afghans, many of whom helped US-led foreign forces over two decades, are desperate to leave the country.
About 5,000 diplomats, security staff, aid workers and Afghans have been evacuated from Kabul in the last 24 hours, a Western official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The evacuations by military flights will continue around the clock, he said, adding that clearing the chaos outside the airport was a challenge.
"It's absolutely hectic and chaos out there." the official said.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani is in the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf state's foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after he left the country as Taliban fighters seized control.
The Taliban's first news briefing since their return to Kabul suggested they would impose their laws more softly than during their harsh 1996-2001 rule.
Women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam", Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's main spokesman said.
During their rule, also guided by Sharia religious law, women were prevented from working, girls were not allowed to go to school and women had to wear all-enveloping burqas to go out.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters on Wednesday: "We’ll see what they do, whether it will be according to the pronouncements that they made."
Echoing that comment and those of other Western leaders, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Taliban would be judged on their actions.
"We will judge this regime based on the choices it makes, and by its actions rather than by its words, on its attitude to terrorism, to crime and narcotics, as well as humanitarian access and the rights of girls to receive an education," he told parliament, recalled from summer recess to debate the crisis.
'TIME WILL TELL'
Many Afghans are sceptical of the Taliban promises. Some said they could only wait and see.
"My family lived under the Taliban and maybe they really want to change or have changed but only time will tell and it's going to become clear very soon," said Ferishta Karimi, who runs a tailoring shop for women.
Mujahid said the Taliban would not seek retribution against former soldiers and government officials, and were granting an amnesty for ex-soldiers as well as contractors and translators who worked for international forces.
"Nobody is going to harm you, nobody is going to knock on your doors," he said, adding that there was a "huge difference" between the Taliban now and 20 years ago.
The Taliban seized Kabul on Sunday as Western forces withdrew under a deal that included a Taliban promise not to attack them as they leave.
US President Joe Biden, who has faced a barrage of criticism about the withdrawal, has said he had had to decide between asking US forces to fight endlessly or follow through on the withdrawal deal of his predecessor Donald Trump.
US forces running the airport initially had to stop evacuation flights after thousands of frightened Afghans swamped the airfield. Flights resumed on Tuesday as the situation came under control.
Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan said his team had evacuated about 700 people on Tuesday and hoped to scale up the operation in the coming days.
Asked whether Britain hoped to take 1,000 people out of Afghanistan a day, Johnson's spokesman said they were aiming to operate at that capacity.
Germany has flown 130 people out, France said it had moved out 25 of its nationals and 184 Afghans, and Australia said 26 people had arrived on its first flight back from Kabul. Denmark said it had evacuated 84 people on a military plane.
"Everyone wants out," said one Afghan man who arrived in Frankfurt on Wednesday with his wife and son on a flight via Tashkent. "We saved ourselves but we couldn't rescue our families."
Reporting by Kabul newsroom Writing by Robert Birsel and Jane Merriman; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Nick Macfie, Catherine Evans and Gareth Jones