Videos and images shared on social media show that the Taliban are violently beating and harassing a group of women protestors demanding their rights for education in Kabul on Thursday.
Women protesters were holding banners that read, “Do not politicize education. Don’t break our pens, don’t burn our books, don’t close our school, education is human identity.”
The videos also show that the Taliban are firing shots into the air, grabbing cameras from a reporter and threatening women not to take any photos or videos.
Since retaking the country on August 15th, the Taliban leadership suspended girls middle school, aged between 13-18, and the country’s public universities remain closed for girls. Private universities remain open and classes are segregated by gender. The Taliban said that they won’t allow girls to go to school and university “until an Islamic environment is created.” Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat, a Taliban official wrote on his Twitter account that “As long as a real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.”
Sources: News 18 9/30/21; CNN 9/30/21
