Taliban special forces have brought an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers.
To end the protests, Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air on Saturday.
Taliban fighters captured most of Afghanistan last month and celebrated the departure of the last US forces after 20 years of war. Following this, the women’s march, the second in as many days in Kabul began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outside Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry to honor Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban before marching on to the presidential palace.
As the protesters’ shouts grew louder, several Taliban officials waded into the crowd to ask what they wanted to say. Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-year-old university student, told her Taliban interlocutor that Islam’s Prophet gave women rights and they wanted theirs. The Taliban official promised women would be given their rights but the women, all in their early 20s, were skeptical.
As the demonstrators reached the presidential palace, a dozen Taliban special forces ran into the crowd, firing in the air and sending demonstrators fleeing.
To end the protests, Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air on Saturday.
Taliban fighters captured most of Afghanistan last month and celebrated the departure of the last US forces after 20 years of war. Following this, the women’s march, the second in as many days in Kabul began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outside Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry to honor Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban before marching on to the presidential palace.
As the protesters’ shouts grew louder, several Taliban officials waded into the crowd to ask what they wanted to say. Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-year-old university student, told her Taliban interlocutor that Islam’s Prophet gave women rights and they wanted theirs. The Taliban official promised women would be given their rights but the women, all in their early 20s, were skeptical.
As the demonstrators reached the presidential palace, a dozen Taliban special forces ran into the crowd, firing in the air and sending demonstrators fleeing.
