Defiant protesters waved Afghan flags at scattered rallies Thursday to mark the country’s independence day, as a UN document suggests the Taliban are rounding up people placed on a blacklist for working with the Afghan government, or US-led forces.
As the small-scale demonstrations unfolded, the son of the nation’s most famous resistance fighter vowed to take up arms against the Islamist hardliners, who are back in power after being ousted in a US-led invasion nearly 20 years ago.
Tens of thousands of people have tried to flee Afghanistan since the Taliban swept into the capital Kabul on Sunday, completing a stunning rout of government forces in a matter of days.
The United States said Thursday that it had airlifted about 7,000 people out of Kabul in the past five days — and that the Taliban appeared to be cooperating to allow Afghan nationals registered for special US visas to reach the airport.
Small groups of Afghans waved the country’s black, red and green flags in Kabul…