Thousands of Afghans protested against the Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, according to a former government official and local television footage, after residents were asked to vacate a residential army colony. Protesters gathered in front of the governor’s house in Kandahar after around 3,000 families were asked to leave the colony,…

KABUL—A former journalist who worked for Afganistan’s finance ministry was shot dead by gunmen in the southern city of Kandahar on Thursday, provincial officials said, as violence mounted across the country amid a U.S. troop withdrawal. No group immediately claimed responsibility but government officials and Western powers usually blame Taliban insurgents for such attacks, which…