Taliban authorities on Tuesday opened fire on a crowd, who were protesting against the arrests of Afghan women for violating dress codes, in the city of Herat, leaving several injured.
A group of around 100 to 150 Afghan men had reportedly gathered in Herat to express solidarity with several women who were arrested last week for going out in public without a full chador cloak or face-covering burqa. Taliban security personnel cracked down on the protest using “sticks, whips, and firearms”.
“They even fired shots in the air,” a witness told AFP news agency.
Another witness said, “Some people were injured. I saw blood on the road.”
A photographer spoke to AFP, stating he saw security forces “striking protesters and firing weapons in the direction of the crowd”.
“A significant number of people were injured,” he added.
A spokesman of the Herat police said that people “attempted to gather and create tensions under the pretext of protesting issues related to the observance of the hijab dress code”.
“Thanks to the timely presence of security forces, the situation was brought fully under control, and further escalation of tensions was prevented,” he said.
Rare protest against Taliban
Residents mobilised support for the protest via social media to “defend the rights of our sisters”, marking a rare occasion of public dissent against the Taliban after its takeover of the Afghan government in 2021.
The Taliban had imposed rules governed by a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice banned education for girls beyond primary school and enforced a strict dress code. The regime had also banned protests against government decisions.
The ministry released a statement, which read, “The issues being spread about women being arrested in Herat are all rumors.”
It added that wearing the hijab is “a divine command, a law that we are obliged to implement”.
Rights activists condemn Taliban
A human rights monitor told AP on Monday that they had verified at least 16 detentions in Herat since Friday, including a pregnant woman, over violations of the dress code.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch called upon the Taliban to release the protesters from detention and described the regime’s “apparent use of lethal force” as “very concerning”.
The United Nations’ investigator on human rights in Afghanistan Richard Benner also called out Taliban for “excessive use of force against seemingly peaceful protesters”.
He wrote on social media, “It’s time to defuse the tension, respect citizens’ freedom of expression, especially women and girls, and avoid further harm.”
