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Protesters in Kandahar
Photo: JAVED TANVEER / AFP
Around 3,000 families in Kandahar have been asked by the Taliban to evacuate a military settlement.
In protest against this order by the new rulers, thousands of people in the southern Afghan city vented their anger.
The crowd gathered in front of the governor's seat of government, an employee of the former government reported to the Reuters news agency.
In addition, video footage from local media showed people blocking a street in the city.
So far, members of army members have lived in the settlement, some of them for more than 30 years.
According to the ex-government employee, they were given three days to leave the area.
Initially, the Taliban did not provide a statement.
In Kabul, a spokesman for the Islamists rejected reports of deadly power struggles at the top of the extremists.
The deputy prime minister, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, contradicted claims in a voice message that he was killed in a shootout with rivals, Taliban spokesman Sulail Shahin tweeted.
In addition, the Taliban published a video that Baradar is supposed to show at a meeting in Kandahar.
Reuters was initially unable to verify the authenticity of the video.
There is speculation in Kabul that there were clashes between supporters of Baradar and those of Interior Minister Siradschuddin Hakkani.
So far, the Taliban have always denied power struggles at their head.
Baradar has not appeared in public for a while.
The same is true of the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Achundsada.
Speculation about the whereabouts of the men is fueled by the handling of the death of Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, head of state during the first Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001. Omar's death was officially confirmed in 2015, two years after his death.
This had sparked violent mutual accusations in the Taliban leadership at the time.
as / Reuters
