KABUL: Several people were killed during a protest in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday after Taliban authorities ordered the demolition of houses to make way for a building construction, said a provincial official.
The head of the information and culture department for the Torkham border point, Arafat Mohajer said the Taliban authorities had asked residents to vacate the land on the road between Jalalabad city and the border with Pakistan to make way for a new customs building.
The residents of the area instead of clearing the land created chaos, said Mohajer, and one Taliban official was killed in clashes as well as several people who were illegally occupying the land.
The demonstration and clashes had blocked the major road from Jalalabad to Torkham, Mohajer added.
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The authorities said the land belonged to the government but the residents, members of the Kuchi ethnic group, said they had the property deeds.
A witness told media that three people were killed, and some others were injured. He said if the issues are not sorted, the protests will continue.
Demonstrations have very rarely been reported in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power in August 2021.
last week, protests erupted in northeastern Badakhshan after Taliban security officials and residents clashed over the clearance of poppy crops, leaving two dead.
