KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban forces opened fire on protesters in western Herat province on Tuesday, injuring several people during a demonstration against the detention of women and girls accused of violating the group’s dress code, local sources reported.
According to the sources, the protest began around 8 a.m. in Herat’s Jibrail township, where dozens of residents, including women, gathered to demand the release of women detained in recent days by Taliban morality police.
Witnesses said demonstrators chanted slogans including “Education, Work, Freedom.”
Local sources said Taliban forces fired on the crowd to disperse the gathering, injuring several protesters. At least three people, including a child, were taken to a nearby hospital during the initial crackdown.
The area was later transformed into a heavily militarized zone as Taliban forces increased their presence and continued firing to break up the demonstration. Sources said protests persisted in parts of the city later in the day.
The Taliban did not immediately comment on the incident.
Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, condemned the use of force against the protesters and called for accountability.
“Alarmed by excessive use of force against seemingly peaceful protesters in Herat today, it’s time to defuse the tension, respect citizens’ freedom of expression, especially women and girls, and avoid further harm,” Bennett wrote on X. He added that those responsible for violence must be held accountable.
The demonstration followed days of growing anger over the Taliban’s arrest and detention of women and girls in Herat for allegedly failing to comply with the group’s interpretation of Islamic dress requirements. It was one of the largest public protests in recent months, after similar demonstrations elsewhere in Afghanistan were violently suppressed by the Taliban.
Local sources previously told KabulNow that dozens of women, including pregnant women and nurses, had been detained across Herat in recent days and taken into custody by the Taliban morality police.
The detentions have drawn international criticism. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Richard Bennett, Amnesty International and other rights groups have called for an immediate end to the crackdown.
The issue was also raised at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan on Monday, where Georgette Gagnon, acting head of UNAMA, cited reports that around 30 women had been detained in Herat by Taliban morality police and other officials.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary and university education, limits on employment, and strict rules on dress and movement. Human rights organizations and UN officials have repeatedly criticized the measures as systematic discrimination against women and girls.
