On Saturday, Taliban gunmen fired firearms and tore flags as they broke up a rare gathering in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital (August 13).
The women’s demonstration took place only days before the one-year anniversary of the hardline Islamists’ takeover, with roughly 40 women marching in front of the education ministry building.
Women marched with banners and signs reading ‘August 15 is a dark day,’ before being dispersed by Taliban gunmen who fired their weapons into the air.
Some demonstrators refused to wear face veils and wore heels to resist the reversal of many of the advances won by women during the two decades of US operations in the nation before the Taliban retook power.
Women sang “food, labor, and freedom” and yelled, “Justice, justice!” We’ve had enough of stupidity.’
According to accounts, several demonstrators sought sanctuary in adjacent stores but were pursued and assaulted with rifle butts by Taliban forces.
Some social media clip showed ladies running while gunshots could be heard in the background, with the lady capturing the situation repeatedly saying, ‘I am not frightened.’
Another video shows a group of ladies standing together and chatting to the camera from inside a building. One tweet reads, ‘We protested today, but the Taliban fired on us.’
‘They placed us in a drugstore and won’t let us out.’
In another, ladies can be seen walking along the street, yelling and waving placards.
According to one of the march’s organizers, Taliban fighters tore their flags and seized phones as they dispersed the assembly. Unfortunately, the Taliban from the intelligence agency arrived and shot in the air, according to Zholia Parsi.
‘They dispersed the girls, tore our banners, and took several of the girls’ cellphones.’
According to accounts, Taliban members assaulted several journalists covering the rally.
Many restrictions, notably on women, have been reinstated in the recent year to conform to the Taliban movement’s interpretation of Islam.
Tens of thousands of girls have been prevented from attending secondary school, and many women have been barred from returning to government positions.
Women are also prohibited from traveling alone on lengthy journeys and are only authorized to visit public gardens and parks in the capital on days when males are not there.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the country’s supreme commander and Taliban head, issued an order earlier this year requiring women to conceal their faces in public.
The United Nations and human rights organizations have regularly condemned the Taliban regime for implementing the restrictions. During a visit to Kabul in May, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan Richard Bennett told reporters that the rules demonstrated a “practice of total gender segregation and are aimed at rendering women invisible in society.”
Initially, some Afghan women resisted the limitations via modest demonstrations. However, the ringleaders were quickly apprehended and imprisoned incommunicado, notwithstanding their denials.
The country’s takeover prepared the path for an economic collapse and the freezing of Afghan and donor finances, resulting in a humanitarian disaster.
Most art, entertainment, and pleasures have also been prohibited in the months after the coup.