ISLAMABAD, Sept 29 (Alliance News): The Taliban forces fired aerial fire to disperse a women’s rally in Iran in support of protests over the death of a woman in police custody.
It should be noted that violent protests have been going on for the past two weeks after the death of 22-year-old Mehsa Amini, who was detained by the moral police in the neighboring country of Iran.
According to foreign media about 25 Afghan women protested in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul, repeating the slogan “woman, life, freedom” used in Iran.
Female protesters carried banners reading ‘Iran has risen, now it’s our turn’ and ‘From Kabul to Iran, Dictatorship Rejected’.
Taliban forces immediately snatched and tore the banners from the women protesters.
Afghan women’s rights activists have staged sporadic protests in Kabul and some other cities since the Taliban came back to power in August last year.
The demonstrations, which have been banned by the Taliban, violate several strict restrictions imposed by the hardline group on Afghan women.
The Taliban have in the past forcibly dispersed women’s rallies, warned journalists against covering them and detained activists in the organizing effort.
An organizer of the protest, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was “organized to show our support and solidarity with the people of Iran and the women victims of the Taliban in Afghanistan.”
After returning to power, the Taliban banned secondary school education for girls and barred women from many government jobs.
Women are also ordered to cover themselves completely with the burqa in public.
So far, the Taliban has rejected international demands to lift restrictions on women, particularly secondary education.
Two days ago, a UN report condemned the ‘harsh restrictions’ and called for their withdrawal.
The international community insists that taking control of women’s rights is a key condition for recognizing the Taliban government, which no country has yet recognized.