Photos have gone viral of more than a dozen Taliban fighters who were seen riding pedal boats armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers at Band-e Amir National Park. The watercraft carrying the extremists were colorful and swan-themed.
The photos were taken in the eastern Bamiyan province of Afghanistan on Saturday by reporter Jake Hanrahan.
One photo taken by Hanrahan showed a fighter who appeared to be aiming his rocket launcher.
The park was described as an essential beacon for stability by Alex Dehgan, who formerly worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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"This park serves as an icon for the identity of the Afghan people for essentially a beacon of stability for three decades of chaos that they went through," Dehgan told CNN in 2019.
The U.S. evacuation in Afghanistan ended on Aug. 31, the date President Joe Biden initially set. Since then, the Taliban has taken over the majority of the country.
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However, the new leaders have continued to see conflict grow as an ISIS group has taken a stronghold in the eastern Nangarhar province, the New York Post reported.
In the city of Jalalabad on Saturday, explosions left at least three dead, some of whom were Taliban members.
This is not the first photo to go viral from inside the war-torn country. Earlier this month, the group was seen parading the streets celebrating the U.S. evacuation by holding a mock funeral. They carried caskets with American, NATO, and other countries' flags draped over them.
There has also been a growing number of protests taking place throughout the country as the Taliban recently put a ban in place on girls returning to school.
