The white flag has been around a few years - it's not a gimmick they have suddenly introduced for the purpose of the new war. In fact the Taleban flag isn't just white, it got the "Shahadah" inscribed on it in black Arabic letters -"I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and that Muhammad is his servant and Messenger." But in battle conditions, distinguishing it from a flag of surrender could be very tricky, I imagine.

Here is a site about flags of the world, the link being to a page specifically about Afghanistan, which has probably had more flag changes than any other country over thee past century - and they should all be here.

The worry isn't so much that Taleban soldiers will shoot while flying what invaders mistake for a flag of surrender. It's that people trying to surrender, especially civilians - women and chilkdren in particular -will get shot or blown up because their flag of surrender is not recognised as such.