Published: Less than 10 min ago
Female protesters in Afghanistan were met with violence and warning shots as they protested the Taliban’s misogynistic rule on Saturday.
About 40 women marched outside the education ministry building in Kabul, chanting “Bread, work and freedom”, before being dispersed by Taliban firing in the air. Several protesters who sought shelter in nearby shops were chased and beaten, the AFP news agency reports.
Several journalists who were there to report on the demonstration, the first women’s protest in months, were also beaten by the armed Taliban.
After the Taliban seized power almost exactly a year ago, on August 15, they promised a milder version of the hardline Islamist regime that characterized their previous rule, 1996-2001. But a number of rights have already been rolled back for women. Tens of thousands of girls have been excluded from higher grades in primary school and many women have not been allowed to return to their jobs.
Women have also been banned from traveling long distances on their own and face various restrictions in some public places.