On Saturday, the Taliban shot in the air to disperse a demonstration of about 40 women demanding more rights in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Almost a year after the Taliban took Kabul on August 15, 2021, women demonstrated to demand “bread, jobs and freedom” and displayed signs reading “August 15 is a black day.” As the BBC wrote, “there have been some small and sporadic protests in recent months, although all forms of dissent have been suppressed.” Also on the BBC, one of the protesters said the Taliban had beaten protesters at previous protests, adding that “this time they behaved differently than in the past by shooting in the air”.
At their first press conference in August last year, where they presented themselves as a moderate and open group, the Taliban announced they would guarantee respect for women’s rights, but in the months that followed they pushed through an extremely radical interpretation of Sharia law. , Islamic law. One of the most recent measures was the obligation to wear the burqa for all women.