The Taliban are continuing to consolidate power in Afghanistan amid reports of violence against protesters in the eastern part of the country, a day after the Islamist group announced the “war is over” and there would be no retribution.

Witnesses say Taliban insurgents fired into the air and beat people with batons in the city of Jalalabad, where a group of demonstrators tried to take down a Taliban flag and replace it with the Afghan national flag Wednesday.  At least three people were killed and many other injured. The Taliban did not comment on the matter.

The Taliban on Tuesday vowed to respect women's rights “within Islamic law” and form an “inclusive Islamic” government.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted late Wednesday that the United States and its partners in the world were calling on those in power in Afghanistan to guarantee the rights and protection of women and girls in the country.

“We will monitor closely how any future government ensures their rights and freedoms,” he wrote.

The Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), an IFJ affiliate, also reported that Ariana TV cameraperson Mahmoud Naimi and Pajhwok News cameraperson Babrak Amirzadeh were beaten up by Taliban militants in Jalalabad, in Nangarhar province, on August 18 as they reported on a protest against the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. The AIJA also informed that Ahmad Navid Kavosh, a Khorshid TV journalist, was beaten up at Hamid Karzai airport while trying to interview a Taliban member.

The intimidation and attacks on journalists have taken place despite reassuring messages towards the press by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid during his first press conference on August 17, following the Taliban occupation of Kabul a day earlier.