The Taliban barricaded and hit Afghan women protesting in Kabul with tear gas and stun guns, protesters say
- Afghan women say they were tear-gassed and beaten at a women's rights protest in Kabul.
- "Women are as educated [as men]," one protester said. "How can they remove us from this society?"
- The Taliban also fired shots into the air to disperse the crowds.
Afghan women protesting the Taliban on Saturday say they were tear-gassed and beaten on the streets of Kabul.
Scores of women demonstrated outside the Defense Ministry building in Kabul, ABC News reported. The Taliban fought back against the women, firing into the air to disperse the crowds.
Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-year-old university grad told ABC News that armed Taliban militants formed a barricade around the protesters and hit them with stun guns and tear gas.
"They stood in front of our protest. They did not allow us to continue our protest, because they want to eliminate the power of women. They don't want to hear from the women," Kabiri said. "They [govern] as if this country just belongs to men. Women are nothing. It's our country as well. Women are as educated [as men]. How can they remove us from this society? We are a part of this society. We protest to announce: 'We are here.'"
The Taliban took over Afghanistan following President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from the region. In its takeover, the Taliban renamed the country to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, reverting back to the same name used during the last time the regime took power, in 1996.
Under the Taliban's rule at that time, women were severely oppressed, facing restrictions like being barred from working or attending schools.
While the militant group has promised to respect women's rights "within Islamic law," human rights activists, Afghan women, and the White House have been skeptical.
It's not clear yet what rules the Taliban will implement for women. But already there have been clear signs that women stand to face harsh consequences under their control.
Soon after their seizure of Afghanistan's government, Taliban fighters reportedly set an Afghan woman on fire for feeding them "bad cooking," Insider's Joshua Zitser reported.
Taliban fighters also instructed a reporter from CNN to step aside while reporting on camera because she's a woman.
One Afghan woman pleaded with an American soldier, begging for help. The woman was behind bars trying to communicate with the soldier. "Help, help," she said, crying and in between gasps. "I want to help family. Taliban coming for me."
Another woman who was a judge in Afghanistan told Reuters she was being hunted down by the very same men she had once put in prison.