KABUL, Afghanistan – Despite threats of violent strikes and retaliatory attacks, hundreds of women marched through the streets of Kabul Tuesday morning, urging the Taliban to respect their rights and making it clear that they would not easily give up on their accomplishments – the last two Decades.
But as the crowd grew and hundreds of men joined the women, demonstrators were beaten with rifle butts and sticks, according to witnesses. Then shots rang out. The crowd dispersed and for the second time in less than a week the Taliban used force to crush a peaceful demonstration.
Even as the Taliban continued to fight to destroy the armed opposition in the country, taking control of the troubled Panjshir Valley on Monday and announcing a new government that they promised would involve everyone, the demonstration broke up on Monday Tuesday another indication that they would stifle peaceful dissent with a heavy hand.
It was also a remarkable feat by women who were brutally subjugated the last time the Taliban were in charge. Those who have taken to the streets in the past few days fear the group has not changed.
The protests came as the Taliban were consolidating their military hold in the country. They announced their intention to integrate members of the former Afghan army into the country’s new security forces and wanted to provide further details on this process at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
While the Taliban have a near monopoly of violence, the demonstrations underscored the challenges ex-insurgents face in trying to win the hearts and minds of a generation of Afghans who have never lived under Taliban rule, especially in urban areas .
In the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis, the Taliban are facing an uphill battle for legitimacy, not only domestically but also abroad. Basic services like electricity are threatened while the country is plagued by food and cash shortages.
And thousands of Afghans are still desperately trying to flee the country as the United States evacuates dozens of its citizens.
At a news conference in Doha, Qatar, Foreign Secretary Antony J. Blinken said Tuesday that US officials were “working around the clock” to ensure that charter flights with Americans can safely leave Afghanistan.
Mr Blinken, who appeared with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and her Qatari counterparts, said Taliban leaders had recently reaffirmed their commitment to allowing American citizens and others with valid travel documents to travel freely.
But the Taliban have objected to charter flights that combine people with and without valid travel documents, Blinken said.
He added that he was not aware of any “hostage-like” situation at Mazar-e-Sharif airport, where some stakeholders and members of Congress say the Taliban are blocking charter flights. Mr Blinken added that he believes there are around 100 American citizens remaining in Afghanistan, including “a relatively small number” who want to leave Mazar-e-Sharif.
Updated
9/2/2021, 5:49 p.m. ET
For the vast majority of Afghans, there is no escape. Just uncertainty.
But the fact that women have been prominently involved in many of the recent protests has underscored their willingness to stand up for their rights in the face of rifle butts, tear gas and retaliation.
In the two decades before the Taliban came to power, women were active in Afghanistan, holding political offices, joining the military and the police, playing in orchestras and taking part in the Olympic Games.
Many Afghan women, who have benefited from education and freedom of expression over the past twenty years, fear a return to the past when women were banned from leaving the home without a male guardian and were publicly flogged when they opposed violate morality, for example by not covering their skin.
Since taking power last month, the Taliban have tried to call themselves more moderate, inviting women to join the government and saying that women can work and girls can get an education.
But the group has not yet codified new laws or given details of their government plans. Initial signs from across the country were not promising, including the Taliban’s warning to stay home until the Taliban militants’ grassroots learned not to harm them.
Understanding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
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Who are the Taliban? The Taliban emerged in 1994 amid the unrest following the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989. They used brutal public punishments, including flogging, amputation and mass executions, to enforce their rules. Here is more about their genesis and track record as rulers.
Who are the Taliban leaders? These are the top leaders of the Taliban, men who for years have been on the run, in hiding, in prison and dodged American drones. Little is known about them or how they plan to rule, including whether they will be as tolerant as they say they are. A spokesman told the Times that the group wanted to forget their past but had some restrictions.
Tuesday’s protests marked the second women’s demonstration in less than a week in the country’s capital, and it was also the second to be violently suppressed.
Rezai, 26, one of the coordinators and organizers of the recent protest, only gave her first name out of fear of retaliation. She said the demonstration was organized in close coordination with the national resistance forces.
“We invited people who use social media platforms,” she said. “And there were more people than we expected. We expect more rallies tonight because the people don’t want terror and destruction. The Taliban have achieved no accomplishments since they came to power other than killing people and spreading terror. So it was a completely self-motivated protest, and we just coordinated and invited people to participate. “
When they marched on Tuesday morning, they carried a banner with a single word: “Freedom”.
The women sang the same word as they walked while the Taliban watched closely. They were joined by men, many of whom condemned Pakistan for its support for the Taliban and meddling in Afghan affairs.
“We are not defending our right to a job or a position in which we will work, we are defending the blood of our youth, we are defending our country, our country,” said one woman, according to a video posted on social media.
Witnesses reported Taliban fighters beat protesters with clubs and rifle butts. Tolo TV, a leading Afghan broadcaster, said one of its cameramen covering the protests was briefly arrested by the Taliban.
As a Times photographer approached the demonstration on a street outside the presidential palace known as Arg, a convoy of at least a dozen Taliban pickups raced toward it.
As soon as the Taliban fighters got off their trucks, they started firing – mostly into the air, it seemed. There were no immediate reports of serious injury or death.
The people – there seemed to be several hundred – ran off.
The big meeting was over. A short time later, when some of the male demonstrators gathered in a small group and began shouting slogans for the resistance, the Taliban chased them away.
After the crowd broke up, Jamila, 23, said it was a peaceful demonstration.
“People just took to the streets and protested,” she said. However, she feared that the Taliban’s tactics to disperse the crowd could lead to bloodshed.
Michael Crowley, Sahak Sami, Walid Arian and Farnaz Fassihi contributed to the coverage.
