The United Nations confirmed on Wednesday that at least one person, a boy, was killed the day before when the Taliban jihadist terror gang opened fire into a crowd of peaceful protesters objecting to the mass arrest of women for insufficiently covering their faces.
Reports began circulating in Afghan media of protests erupting in the city of Herat on Tuesday after Taliban thugs detained dozens of women, reportedly wearing hijabs, or Islamic headscarves, but accused of not covering their face sufficiently. Taliban leaders claimed upon seizing power once again in 2021 that they would mandate the use of the hijab, which does not cover the face, but that they would not force women to cover their faces with niqabs or burqas. The niqab is a face covering that exposes only the eyes of a woman, while the burqa completely covers a woman’s face.
A year into their stranglehold on power in Afghanistan, Taliban thugs representing the regime’s “morality police” were actively harassing, and in some cases attacking, women for being seen in public, unofficially mandating burqas while also banning women from being seen in public unless they required emergency medical care or were under the watchful eye of a male guardian — and in some of these cases, the Taliban intervened. The jihadist terrorists banned girls above sixth grade from receiving any education, banned women from having jobs — even those working for international humanitarian organizations — and have essentially erased women from all public life, including banning them from parks and even imposing new housing regulations that ban windows near areas such as kitchens where women could potentially exist.
Afghans, men and women alike, have been consistently organizing protests against Taliban repression since the overthrow of the U.S.-backed government in August 2021. The latest reported protest in Herat, according to the Afghan newspaper Etilaatroz, was triggered by the arrests of as many as 30 women in the past week for not covering their faces and hair enough. The women were reportedly temporarily detained, threatened, and released, despite witnesses asserting they were complying with hijab mandates. The Agence France-Presse (AFP) estimated the number of protesters to be “up to 150 men” who joined the women’s rights protest.
In defense of these women, a group of Herat locals organized a protest, announcing a meeting time and place on social media. Taliban thugs reportedly organized in anticipation of the protest and then violently repressed it, using sticks to beat participants and ultimately opening fire on the crowd. Breitbart News could not find reports indicating that the crowd was engaging in violence or in any way unruly.
“People had come out to defend women’s rights,” an eyewitness narrated to the Afghan newspaper Hasht e Subh, which published photos and shared that it had obtained video of the mass shooting. “The Taliban were shooting mostly at legs and even at chests. I saw several young men fall to the ground, bleeding. All the Taliban were armed and firing.”
“They were firing Kalashnikovs directly at us. They shot directly at girls and boys alike. The bullet is still in my leg,” another anonymous protester told the newspaper, noting that he or she was also wounded in the protest.
Another eyewitness said that, following the mass shooting, Taliban thugs paraded through local health clinics to ensure that none of the wounded received medical care.
The Catholic Church’s AsiaNews shared its own account on Wednesday, citing anonymous witnesses who said the Taliban terrorists “fired directly at the heads, chests, and legs of the protesters.” It added that locals noted the women initially arrested for allegedly violating clothing laws included a nurse who was detained despite abiding by the mandate that women in public must always be accompanied by a male “guardian.” As a result of the Taliban in practice demanding that women cover their faces entirely, the outlet also shared reports that women have begun to use sanitary masks, made popular during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, to cover their faces in public.
The United Nations operation in the country, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), confirmed the death of a child, a boy, in the incident on Tuesday. Some reports suggested that a woman was also killed in the hail of gunfire, but these claims have yet to be independently verified and UNAMA stated on Wednesday it was still working to verify any other deaths.
Following the spread of the news internationally, the Taliban reportedly began persecuting Afghans on Wednesday who had published videos of the mass shooting and repression of civilians. Reports from the country accused Taliban terrorists of threatening those in possession of videos and publishing messages online in support of the victims to delete the content. Local officials, meanwhile, justified the savage attack by claiming that the peaceful protesters posed a threat to social stability.
“Thanks to the timely presence of security forces, the situation was brought fully under control, and further escalation of tensions was prevented,” a Herat police spokesman declared, thanking the Taliban thugs for their violence.
The Taliban’s Ministry “for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” which oversees the “morality police,” also reportedly issued a statement declaring that the arrests that initially triggered the protests were “all rumors,” but threatening consequences for women who defy the Islamic clothing restrictions, declaring the hijab “a divine command.” As usual, though imposing the full burqa, the Taliban office mentioned only the less restrictive hijab.
Local media also reported that imams in Herat are demanding that all women stay in their homes and not risk antagonizing the thugs any further.
“Brothers, there is nothing we can do. Tell your families not to go outside, or only go out accompanied by a male relative,” an eyewitness quoted a local imam as saying in comments to Hasht e Subh.
“They are now saying that women wearing prayer veils must also wear black face masks. Checkpoints have multiplied, and searches and restrictions are intensifying,” a resident lamented.