The Taliban fired at a group of protesters demonstrating against the arrest of women who were accused of violating Afghanistan’s Taliban-imposed dress code, according to media reports and statements published by human-rights organizations and UN officials on Tuesday.
Armed police opened fire on more than 100 protesters in the city of Heart, eyewitnesses told the Associated Press. At least three people were wounded, according to the report.
At least one person was killed, London-based Afghanistan International news channel reported, adding that the information could not be independently verified.
The Taliban had detained a number of protesters and was visiting hospitals in search of those who were injured, people familiar with the matter told Afghanistan International.
A child was killed during the attack against protesters, independent satellite news channel Amu TV reported.
About 30 women had been detained by Taliban police for allegedly failing to comply with their dress code, Georgette Gagnon, acting head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, told the UN Security Council on Monday.
A pregnant woman is believed to be among those detained in Heart, she said.
Under the Taliban’s morality law, a woman’s face is considered to be awrah, an intimate part of the human body. As such, a woman must wear clothing that fully covers her face.
The reports of arrests were all rumors, Afghanistan’s Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice Ministry said, adding that the “hijab is a divine command, a law that we are obliged to implement.”
Over 100 protestors fired on
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said he was “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,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
Amnesty International urged the Taliban to “end the use of unlawful force against peaceful protesters, release those arbitrarily detained, and respect the rights of women and girls.”
“The Taliban’s reported use of live fire against protesters is a shocking escalation of their ongoing assault on the rights to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and women’s rights in Afghanistan,” it said. “Those protesting peacefully should never be met with bullets and violence.”