On Tuesday morning, Taliban fighters suppressed a protest in the Jebrail district of Herat, which had been organized in response to the mass detention of women accused of not wearing the burqa. Eyewitnesses confirmed that Taliban fighters fired directly into the crowd of demonstrators, killing two people and wounding nearly 30. Footage circulating online clearly shows Taliban fighters shooting directly at protesters. The incident has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations and prominent anti-Taliban political figures. Sources report that the city has remained under a heavy security presence since the protests, with restrictions on women’s movement and ongoing detentions continuing in full force. According to sources, mosque imams in Herat urged residents the previous day to prevent their wives and female family members from leaving their homes, stating they had no capacity to mediate for the release of those detained.
Taliban Open Fire on Protesters
An eyewitness said residents of Jebrail took to the streets to defend women’s rights, but Taliban fighters responded with gunfire and bloodshed. “People had come out to defend women’s rights,” the witness said. “The Taliban were shooting mostly at legs and even at chests. I saw several young men fall to the ground, bleeding. All the Taliban were armed and firing.”
The same witness said that in the early hours, 24 people were wounded and two others were killed, one of whom was a child. He added that people were unable to transport the wounded to hospitals, and instead carried them home or to undisclosed locations to keep them out of the Taliban’s reach.
A second eyewitness said: “I saw with my own eyes a teenager shot in the chest. They showed no mercy. They fired at everyone: legs, chests, heads.”
Two men wounded in the shooting also confirmed that Taliban fighters fired directly at the crowd. In separate videos, both said they were hit by direct fire. Footage obtained by the Hasht-e Subh Daily shows the men wounded in the legs, with bullets still lodged in their limbs.
One of the wounded said, “They were firing Kalashnikovs directly at us. They shot directly at girls and boys alike. The bullet is still in my leg.”
“Education, Work, Freedom”
Video footage from the protests shows demonstrators chanting “Education, work, freedom” even as Taliban fighters opened fire around them. The footage captures women raising their voices while Taliban fighters shoot.
Wounded Kept From Hospitals
Several of the wounded and other protesters in Herat said that, out of fear of arrest and Taliban reprisals, a large number of injured people were taken home rather than to hospitals. According to them, the wounded were denied access to basic medical care. Some confirmed that Taliban fighters were stationed inside hospitals, identifying the injured and detaining their family members.
Taliban Reinforcements Deployed to Jebrail
Following the crackdown, the Taliban dispatched hundreds of fresh fighters to the Jebrail district and placed all key points across the city under the control of newly deployed forces. Videos showing Taliban troops and equipment indicate that the group has turned Herat into a fully militarized zone, with fighters repositioned along roads and throughout the city. Sources confirmed that Taliban operatives in civilian clothing were also deployed across various neighborhoods, monitoring the movement of residents.
Taliban Forewarned; Women’s Arrests Continue
One resident of Jebrail said: “The Taliban knew about the protests in advance because they had been announced on social media. By morning, most of them were already deployed in the area in plain clothes. When people tried to gather and protest, they attacked from every direction with weapons and even entered private clinics to check that no one had brought their wounded there.”
Concurrent with the crackdown on protesters, the detention of women continued across different parts of Herat. The Taliban’s Morality Police arrested women throughout the city’s districts, accusing them of not wearing the burqa.
One Herat resident said the arrests of women were ongoing. Despite the streets having been largely emptied of women, the Taliban still detained two girls from District 15 of Herat and took them away.
“Yesterday, during the afternoon prayer, the imam of our local mosque told everyone: ‘Brothers, there is nothing we can do. Tell your families not to go outside, or only go out accompanied by a male relative,” the resident said. “The situation has reached the point where women are being arrested even while wearing a prayer veil. They are now saying that women wearing prayer veils must also wear black face masks. Checkpoints have multiplied, and searches and restrictions are intensifying.”
Reactions from Former Government Officials and Anti-Taliban Fronts
Mohammad Ismail Khan, a prominent anti-Taliban commander and influential figure in Herat, condemned the widespread detention and abuse of women by the Taliban in the province, calling it “intolerable.” He warned the Taliban: “History has proven that no government has ever succeeded, nor will ever succeed, through force, repression, and the humiliation of its people.”
Ismail Khan called on the women of Herat to resist the pressure, saying the situation would not last. He described the arbitrary restrictions imposed on women and girls in Herat as “an affront to the dignity and honor” of the province’s people.
Rangin Dadfar Spanta, former National Security Adviser and Foreign Minister of the previous Afghan government, responded to the Taliban’s crackdown on protesters in Herat by declaring that “freedom is something that must be seized.” Writing on X, he said: “The barbarism and savagery of those in power have turned our country into a land of terror, oppression, hunger, and absolute backwardness.”
Spanta described solidarity with the protesters in Herat as “a national and patriotic duty,” adding: “It is the people themselves who must put an end to this tyranny and this historically regressive rule.”
The Afghanistan Freedom Front stated Tuesday, warning that the suppression of popular protests in Herat and what it described as a violation of the dignity of women in the province would not go unanswered. The front characterized the detention of women by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice as “organized abduction and open extortion.”
Reactions from Human Rights Organizations
Amnesty International expressed alarm over the crackdown on protesters in Herat, stating that media reports and videos showing Taliban forces firing on demonstrators who had been protesting against the detention of women and the enforcement of dress codes were “deeply troubling.” The organization said the use of live ammunition against protesters was “profoundly shocking.”
Amnesty International stressed that people exercising their right to peaceful protest should not be met with bullets and violence. It called on the Taliban to immediately cease the unlawful use of force against demonstrators, release all those detained, and respect the rights of women and girls, including the freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and the right to peaceful assembly.
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said the organization had received “alarming reports” from the province. Writing on X, she called on the Taliban to immediately halt any use of force against protesters and to release all individuals detained for participating in peaceful demonstrations. She added that protesters must be allowed to exercise their right to peaceful assembly without violence or intimidation.
Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, called for accountability for those responsible for the violence against protesters in Herat. “Those responsible for the violence must be held accountable,” he said.
Richard Lindsay, the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, also responded to the detention of women and the attack on protesters in Herat, calling for de-escalation and respect for freedom of expression. He expressed concern about X over the recent events in the province.
The UK’s Special Representative called for respect for freedom of expression, the prevention of, and accountability for, any unlawful harm against civilians. “I am deeply concerned by reports of the use of force on the streets of Herat,” he said. “I call for de-escalation, respect for freedom of expression, and accountability for any unlawful harm.”
Residents of the Jebrail district of Herat had taken to the streets at around 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday in protest against the ongoing detention of women, only to be met with live fire and a violent crackdown by the Taliban.
Sources in Jebrail confirmed that following the protest, the Taliban pursued demonstrators through the neighborhood, with fighters patrolling the alleyways of Jebrail in both civilian and military vehicles in search of protesters. According to sources, the previous night, the Taliban also established checkpoints at the Talar-e Bahar-e Zindagi intersection, the Farhang intersection, the Tawhid First intersection, and several other locations, where they searched residents’ mobile phones.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
بازداشت زنان و گلوله بر سینه معترضان هرات؛ طالبان اعتراض مردم را با مرمی پاسخ دادند
