Women and girls in Afghanistan are being violently harassed and imprisoned without charge by Taliban forces in an ongoing campaign by the extremist group to enforce a strict dress code.
In the latest incident since the Taliban began detaining girls and women on January 1, a video is being widely shared showing a mother fighting to prevent Taliban forces shoving her and her daughter into their vehicle.
Both mother and daughter are modestly dressed and are wearing hijabs.
A source, who wished to remain anonymous, has told Rukhshana Media the incident happened last week in the Macroyan 3 area of Kabul city.
The arbitrary arrests of dozens of women and girls have been reported from different areas of Kabul city and in other provinces around the country.
At least another 13 women and girls have been arrested in the past few days from different parts of Kabul, according to the sources.
video: submitted to Rukhshana media.
The latest arrests happened in Macroyan, Mahdia and Omid-e-Sabz townships of Kabul city on Thursday and Friday.
One source, who witnessed the rounding up of several women by Taliban forces but who managed to escape, said that the ‘morality police’ connected to the Ministry of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice arrested two girls from Omid-e-Sabz township and six women and girls from Mahdia township of west Kabul.
The source said that all of them were wearing a hijab.
Among them was another mother with her you g daughter who had come to the market.
“Despite the woman and her daughter wearing a hijab, they threw the girl in the Ford Ranger, and the girl’s mother fell at Talib’s feet and begged to let her daughter go. But the Taliban said that the order was from above,” the source said.
“Several elderly people were begging Talib to let the girls get out of the car, but the Talibs didn’t listen to anyone.”
Another source said that Taliban morality police arrested at least five women and girls on Friday from the Macroyan area of Kabul city and took them away.
The source said that the detainees included an elderly woman, two middle-aged women, and two girls aged 17 and 18.
Some of the detainees who have been released said that they faced severe mistreatment.
Others say their family has been extorted for money and the release only happens if the family pay in exchange for their release.
The UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan reported last week that women from the Hazara and Tajik areas are being arrested by the Taliban.
The organization said it will investigate claims of Taliban mistreatment and extortion of the detained girls and women.
