At least three people killed in anti-Taliban protests in Afghan city of Jalalabad

At least three people were killed in anti-Taliban protests in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, witnesses said, as the militant group moved to set up a government and Western countries stepped up evacuations of diplomats and civilians.

There were also more than a dozen people injured after Taliban militants opened fire on protesters in the eastern city, two witnesses and a former police official told Reuters.

The deaths mar the Taliban’s efforts to consolidate Islamist rule and their promises of peace following their sweep into Kabul. They have said they will not take revenge against old enemies and will respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.

The witnesses said the deaths took place when local residents tried to install Afghanistan’s national flag at a square in Jalalabad, some 150km from the capital on the main road to Pakistan. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately reachable for comment.

Arrive in Europe

Meanwhile, the first group of Afghan refugees selected to come to Ireland under the State’s refugee protection programme could arrive in Europe on an EU military flight in the coming days, the Irish Times has learned.

A group of 200 hundred people, which is expected to be predominantly made up of female-led households, are to be accepted into Ireland in the coming weeks as part of the State’s efforts to support Afghans caught up in the Taliban takeover of their home country.

They will be brought to Ireland through the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), which was established in 2015 in response to the Syrian migrant crisis, and will be in addition to those who had previously applied for visas to move to Ireland or to relocate through family reunification, a Government spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday.

This is a small increase on the 150 humanitarian visas the Government committed to Afghan refugees earlier this week.

The spokeswoman said efforts are underway through negotiations with EU partners to try and get the first cohort out “in the next couple of days” on an Italian military aircraft. Discussion are also taking place with other EU military operations and a private security company about securing places for Afghan refugees on board a charter flight, she told The Irish Times.

However, fears remain that many of those earmarked to come to Ireland may not be able to get to the airport in Kabul.

The first 100 Afghans to arrive in Ireland will largely be made up of staff from the European External Action Service (EEAS) - the EUs diplomatic service - and will include finance workers, logsiticians, programme officers, secretaries, guards and cleaners, she said.

Single women

As many of the roles are held by single women, the priority will be to get them out of the country as quickly as possible as they risk being forced to marry insurgents under the Taliban regime, she added.

The group also includes five young women aged between 15-17 who have been involved in research around robotics and technology and recently received death threats from the Taliban.

“There are also human rights defenders who are hoping to access a flight,” said the spokeswoman “Leading women working in peace and security have also been offered refugee with their families.”

The level of English among the group of arrivals is expected to be high with many keen to join the workforce as soon as possible, she said.

Priority is also being given to members of the LGBTI community and those at serious risk of harm, she added.

Government officials have been preparing for the arrival of additional Afghan refugees since last Friday while the Department of Foreign Affairs has drawn up a list of names for resettlement, said the spokeswoman. It’s understood a number of other departments have also requested that names be added to this list.

Under normal IRPP protocol, Syrian refugees are interviewed and vetted in Greece, Jordan or Lebanon before they come to Ireland. However, given the urgency and “immediate risk” of the current situation in Afghanistan, people will be assessed by gardaí upon arrival in the State, said the spokeswoman.

It’s understood as much security testing as is possible is being carried out in advance through NGO contacts with details being forwarded on to gardaí for consideration.

The 200 new arrivals will also undergo vulnerability assessments upon arrival and “will be entitled to claim State benefits as refugees brought Ireland”, said the spokeswoman.

Most of the group will be accommodated in the IRPP Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres in Clonea in Co Waterford, Ballaghadereen in Co Roscommon and Mosney in Co Meath where there is currently space available.

Efforts are also being made to house some families through Community Sponsorship programmes around the country.

Separately, one of the Taliban’s leaders and co-founders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, returned to Afghanistan for the first time in more than 10 years and a Taliban official said the leaders would show themselves to the world, unlike in the past when they lived in secret.

“Slowly, gradually, the world will see all our leaders,” the senior Taliban official told Reuters.

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 UN 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 the British parliament, recalled from summer recess to debate the crisis.

Sceptical

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 U.S. 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 coming days.

European Parliament president David Sassoli said on Wednesday that the European Union has a responsibility to accept Afghan refugees and cannot leave people who worked for the bloc in Afghanistan to “face revenge”. He said refugees arriving from Afghanistan should be distributed evenly among EU member states.

“We must protect those who worked and cooperated with us, we cannot allow them to be left to face revenge”, Mr Sassoli told reporters during a visit to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

“We have a responsibility. I think that European Commission can authorise even distribution of them among the member states to keep a parity, and this can be done quickly.” â€" Reuters

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