By: Rukhshana Media
The Taliban violently dispersed female protesters who took to the streets of Kabul on Thursday morning, demanding the reopening of girls schools.
Women started their march in a lane, and were heading toward the main road when the Taliban fighters arrived, blocked their way, then started shooting into the air to disperse them. At least three protesters were severely beaten, one of the protesters said.
Around 30 women including schoolgirls participated in the protest. “Our schools were closed, our daughters got tired,” a sign held by a protester read.
“Afghan women have been taken hostage, and the international community is silent,” a woman told the protesters during her emotional speech. “We won’t be silent, and will raise our voice again and again.”
“We demand they should immediately open the gates of girls’ schools, and allow women to return to their work,” she continued, amid chants of “food, work and education.”
The Taliban fighters forced Rukhshana Media’s reporter, who went to cover the protest, and some of the protestors to delete all photos and videos of the protest they had taken by their smartphones.
Some of the protesters entered private houses to hide when the Taliban fighters attacked the protest. A burqa-clad female protester sent her video to Rukhshan Media, saying the owner of the house, in which she hid in, lent her a burqa to flee the Taliban.
The Taliban have suppressed female protests across Afghanistan since they came to power. They have detained, interrogated, and in some instances even tortured female protesters.
