Taliban forces disperse Afghan women’s protest as group nears one-year return to power

Taliban security forces fired shots into the air to disperse a protest by Afghan women’s rights activists in Kabul on Saturday.

The women paraded in the streets and chanted: « Bread, work and freedom ».

Activist Zholia Parsi said some of the women were being held by the Taliban.

« This protest was against the year in power of the Taliban because they have no program to govern, girls’ schools are still closed, women are fired from their jobs for no reason, poverty is increasing, so for all good reasons, we protested.

The protest took place just two days before the first anniversary of the ruling Taliban following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan last year.

The Taliban’s capture of Kabul on August 15, 2021 brought the radical movement back to power in Afghanistan nearly 20 years after the group was toppled by the US invasion following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

With the group’s return to power, girls were not allowed to study beyond sixth grade and many women in government positions were not allowed to work.