Pilot recounts how his plane was shot down by the Taliban 3:17
(CNN) -
The Taliban used shootings, arrests and beatings to end dissent over their government on Tuesday, when dozens of Afghan protesters marched through Kabul in the largest protest the capital has seen since the militant group took power on Tuesday. last month.
According to photos and videos shared on social media, activists shouted in support of resistance fighters in Panjshir province and chanted against Pakistan, as they believe it is involved in Afghan affairs.
Videos from downtown Kabul showed dozens of men and women marching through the streets shouting "Death to Pakistan" as protesters made their way to the presidential palace.
Amid the chaotic scenes in the streets, Taliban militants intervened and fired into the air to disperse the protesters.
The videos showed people scattering or crouching amid continuous bursts of gunfire.
At first no victims were reported.
Witnesses estimated the crowd to be between 300 and 500 people, many of whom were hijab-wearing women.
A Taliban militant stands guard as Afghan women shout slogans during a rally near the Pakistani embassy in Kabul on September 7.
Protesters question Pakistan's role
Some protesters complained about the role that Pakistan's chief of military intelligence has played in concluding negotiations for the formation of a government.
The head of the intelligence services, Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid, arrived in Kabul over the weekend and met with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Baradar, head of the Taliban Political Bureau.
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One man said: "The protest near Zanbak Square was dispersed by the Taliban firing into the air. Most of our friends headed towards the Serena Hotel. One group gathered here and another marched towards the Pakistani embassy. No matter what try to stop us, we will sprout [again], we will grow. We will not be silent. We will never accept slavery and the invasion of any foreigner. "
In a video from Kabul on Tuesday, a woman is seen confronting a Taliban militant.
Afghan journalist Ahmad Jawid Kargar told CNN that the Taliban detained dozens of protesting women in front of the presidential gate and took them to the basement of the Azizi Bank, located nearby.
CNN has not been able to confirm the number of people detained.
Taliban Announce New Provisional Government
A non-Afghan photojournalist who was among the dozen media representatives detained at the protest said he had been held for two hours. The journalist told CNN: "Before arresting me, a Taliban hit me on the back of the neck with his AK-47." He said his camera was broken, but that when the Taliban found out he was not an Afghan they were much kinder. "They did not treat the local journalists the same and made sure several times that I was not."
The photojournalist, who asked not to be named, said it was becoming impossible to work in Kabul.
"We can't do anything. They ban us from covering. We can't do our job. They are very aggressive. I've seen it with my own eyes: I saw a man pointing his gun at people, he was ready to shoot. Another man had to shoot. stop him. He came very close to doing it. Some are just uncontrollable. "
The photojournalist added: "Today there were about 500 people in the protest. The women were detained in an outside parking lot. They were not allowed to leave that space. That was their method of stopping and stopping them."
According to various social media accounts of Afghan journalists, at least some of the detained reporters and cameramen have been released.
Some had been beaten, according to their organizations' social media accounts.
Afghan women have repeatedly braved the city streets to protest in recent days.
(Credit: HOSHANG HASHIMI / AFP via Getty Images)
Kabul News posted on Twitter that Ahmad Najim Sultani, a photographer for Kabul News TV, was injured and Imran Fazli, a journalist, was beaten during today's protest in Kabul.
"The Taliban also confiscated the photographic equipment," it was said.
The Afghan network TOLO news said in a tweet: "Waheed Ahmadi, photographer for TOLO news, was released by the Taliban forces after a three-hour detention. The Taliban returned the photos to Mr. Ahmadi with a camera."
Ariana News, another Kabul-based private television network, had also said that its reporter and cameraman had been detained.
The human rights group Amnesty International stated in a message on Twitter that it is "deeply concerned by reports of the use of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists in Kabul by the Taliban. Exercising the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is a human right. The Taliban must respect and allow people to exercise their rights. "
While Human Rights Watch tweeted: "In yet another indication that #Afghanistan's new rulers will not tolerate peaceful dissent, the Taliban again used force to crush a protest by hundreds of #Afghanistan women demanding their rights today" .
Taliban militants during Tuesday's protest.
Credit: HOSHANG HASHIMI / AFP via Getty Images
The Kabul protests also chanted slogans in favor of the leader of the National Resistance Front (NFR), Ahmad Masoud, who leads the opposition to the Taliban from Panjshir province.
On Monday he called for a national uprising against the Taliban regime, as the militant group claimed victory in the mountainous region after two weeks of heavy fighting with the NRF.
However, the NRF denied this claim and its spokesman Ali Nazary told CNN: "The resistance continues throughout the valley."
One man told Reuters: "I came today to ask why Pakistan is destroying Panjshir. I am from Panjshir. People have to express their anger, men and women, they must not remain silent. Pakistan enters my country and destroys it. Not even Pakistan. neither the Taliban or al-Qaeda have that right. Long live Panjshir and his resistance. "
Taliban say last focus of resistance fell 0:46
Asked about the management of the protests at a press conference to announce the new government, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that illegal demonstrations would not be allowed.
He said protesters had to abide by the rules during the current emergency situation in the country.
He dismissed claims by protesters about Pakistani interference in Afghanistan, saying they were rumors that had circulated for two decades.
In the last week there have been a series of smaller protests in Kabul and other Afghan cities in which women activists have called on the Taliban to respect their rights and allow them to participate in government.
A women's protest in Kabul was broken up over the weekend.
Afghan women make an unusual protest in the streets of Kabul: "We must participate in the government, we are the majority"
According to multiple videos and images posted on social media on Tuesday, there was also a protest in the western Afghan city of Herat in which "Death to Pakistan" was also chanted.
In several videos shots were heard as protesters ran or protected themselves.
At least two people were killed and three others injured, according to an official at the Herat regional hospital, who asked that his name not be revealed for his safety.
The deaths were due to the Taliban "firing into the air" to try to disperse the crowd of protesters, the hospital official said.
The Taliban have yet to comment publicly on the deaths.
ProtestTaliban