Fatal Anti-Taliban Protest in Afghanistan Leaves Dead and Injured

Clashes erupted in the western Afghan city of Herat in an almost unprecedented event, as women, girls and men took to the streets in protest after an “enforcement operation” targeting women’s clothing restrictions. Taliban forces fired at civilians at the center of the demonstration.

Hundreds of residents took to the streets in Herat on Tuesday in a rare protest against Taliban rule, after reports of arrests of women and girls on the grounds that they had not complied with the country’s strict Islamic dress code. According to eyewitnesses and protesters, Taliban security forces dispersed the demonstration with live fire, batons and whips. Reports said the protests against the Taliban in Herat were continuing today as well.

The protest broke out after, according to local reports, Taliban “morality police” began arresting women suspected of not wearing the Islamic head covering properly, as required by the authorities in recent days. Residents said that since the weekend, women had been seen being detained in the city’s streets, and that inspectors had checked vehicles and rickshaws to find women whose clothing was deemed inappropriate.

According to medical sources quoted by the BBC, a woman and a child were killed during the crackdown on the unrest. In addition, more than a dozen people were reported injured, and several people were struck by gunfire. A doctor at a local hospital said at least three people were hospitalized after being wounded by gunshots. Other eyewitnesses claimed that dozens of people, including women and girls, were arrested during the dispersal of the protest.

The Taliban denied that there had been any deaths or casualties as a result of police gunfire. Herat police spokesman Syed Masoud Hosseini said security forces “acted to maintain public order and security.” He said the protesters created tension in the Jabrail area of the city under the pretext of protesting issues related to the hijab obligation, which he described as a religious duty.

However, eyewitnesses said security forces used violent means to disperse the crowd. One protester said the forces used batons, whips and firearms, and also fired into the air. A photographer who was there said he saw security personnel beating protesters and shooting at the crowd. According to him, a significant number of people were injured.

In rare footage released from the clashes, security forces can be seen firing at protesters. In videos circulated on social media and verified by international media outlets, gunfire can be heard, while women can be heard shouting at the forces not to beat the protesters. In other clips, people were seen fleeing for cover as shots were heard in the background. Other videos documented protesters throwing stones at the security forces.

According to reports, among the slogans heard at the protest was “Education, work, freedom,” a slogan reflecting the opposition of many women to Taliban policy since its return to power in August 2021. The protest in Herat is considered especially unusual. Since the Taliban seized the country, protests in general, and women’s protests in particular, have become rare.

In recent years the group has imposed a long list of restrictions on women and girls, including limits on access to education, employment, sport, freedom of movement and participation in public life. The obligation for women to wear the hijab was officially imposed in May 2022, but according to reports, the broad enforcement operation in Herat began only in recent days. Some residents even claimed that the authorities targeted women who were already wearing the required clothing, which includes full coverage of the hair and face.

Various Taliban officials gave conflicting accounts over the past 24 hours regarding the arrests. While residents, eyewitnesses and UN officials reported dozens of women and girls detained, local officials denied it. The head of Herat’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Sheikh Azizur Rahman al-Mohajir, said reports of women being arrested for violating hijab rules were false and that department inspectors had “limited themselves to instructions and outreach.”

The events also drew international reactions. The UN special envoy on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, expressed deep concern over the excessive use of force against protesters whom he described as peaceful. He called for respect for citizens’ freedom of expression, especially that of women and girls, and for those responsible for the violence to be prosecuted.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan also expressed concern over reports of women being arrested in the western part of the country for allegedly failing to meet dress requirements, and called on the Taliban authorities to respect freedom of movement and equality before the law. Meanwhile, the Taliban continues to claim that it “respects women’s rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law.”