Report: Taliban Violently Dispersed Women's Rally By Beating Protestors In Kabul

Days before the first anniversary of the hardline Islamists' return to power, Taliban fighters battered women demonstrators and opened fire as they forcefully dispersed a rare rally in the Afghan capital, Kabul on Saturday.

The Taliban have reversed the slight advancements gained by women over the two decades of US operations in Afghanistan since taking control on August 15 of last year.

Taliban Afghan Women Protest

The gunmen fired their weapons into the air to scatter the group of about 40 women who were marching in front of the Kabul education ministry building while chanting "Bread, work, and freedom," as reported by AFP.

Some women protesters who took sanctuary in neighbouring stores were chased and beaten with rifle butts by Taliban fighters. In their call for the right to work and the right to vote, the protesters hoisted a banner that said, "August 15 is a black day."

"Justice, justice. We're tired of ignorance!" the protesters, many of whom were not wearing face veils, chanted. A few journalists who were covering the protest—the first women's rally in months—were also assaulted by Taliban fighters, according to reports. 

The Taliban had promised a more moderate form of the strict Islamist rule that had characterised their first term in power from 1996 to 2001 after gaining control. However, numerous limits have already been implemented. Many government professions are no longer open to women, and tens of thousands of girls have been prevented from attending secondary schools. Furthermore, women are now only permitted to visit the public gardens and parks in the capital on days when men are not present. Long-distance solo travel is also no longer permitted.

In May, Hibatullah Akhundzada, the chief of the Taliban and the country's supreme leader issued an order requiring women to completely conceal their faces in public, preferably with an all-encompassing burqa.

In the beginning, a few Afghan women protested briefly by pushing back against the curbs. However, the Taliban quickly apprehended the ringleaders and imprisoned them without access to outside communication while maintaining their innocence.

Suggested Reading: Taliban Issues New Decree; Orders Female TV Presenters To Cover Faces: Report