Residents in Jalalabad City, Nangarhar province in Afghanistan took down the Taliban flag and replaced it with the national flag on August 18, days following the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

Footage shows the locals climbing atop a structure in the middle of a plaza to remove the Taliban flag and hoist the tri-colored Afghan flag as onlookers gathered on the street.

Similar protests have sprung up in the cities of Asadabad and Khost, where Taliban flags were taken down.

The demonstrations were met with violence. In Jalalabad, a dozen people were injured while three reportedly died when Taliban guards opened fire on the rallyists.

The Taliban, in its press conference on August 17, had earlier called for peace and an end to conflict.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: ‘We don’t want to repeat any conflict anymore again. We want to do away with the factors for conflict. Therefore, the Islamic Emirate does not have any kind of hostility or animosity with anybody; animosities have come to an end and we would like to live peacefully.’

He added: ‘We don’t want any internal enemies and any external enemies.’