Taliban authorities have reportedly released eight women activists who were detained on Sunday in Kabul.
Zahra Haqparast, a women activist, said in a post that the women, who were affiliated with the Unity and Solidarity Movement of Women in Afghanistan, were recently freed as a result of a group of women activists’ advocacy.
Haqparast indicated that the release was made after a guarantee was sought from the women, saying that she hopes the Taliban authorities “don’t harm them or their family members in any way.”
Taliban forces detained the eight women activists after raiding a home on Sunday night in the Khairkhana area of the capital.
The activists, according to sources, had gathered in the compound to discuss plans for an upcoming protest.
Naseer A. Faiq, Chargé d’Affaires of Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the United Nations, called the arbitrary arrest “against laws and un-Islamic” that demonstrated the Taliban’s “cruel and barbaric” behavior against women.
In recent years, women’s rights activists have staged a series of protests against Taliban bans on women and girls in Kabul and other provinces, demanding all bans be lifted.
The Taliban authorities have responded by cracking down on protests—beating, detaining, and in many cases torturing protestors. Local and international journalists covering demonstrations have also been arrested and often beaten.
