The Taliban used a water canon to disperse a group of protesters who took to the streets to speak out against a ban on female students attending university in Afghanistan.
The country’s rulers have faced a widespread backlash after this week ordering women to stop attending universities immediately.
The heroic women of Afghanistan out on the streets of Herat today to protest against the Taliban’s BAN on female students going to university. They scream “cowards” at the Taliban.
— Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) December 24, 2022
The Taliban fire water canons at the protesters. pic.twitter.com/9O34xFFbf6
Footage on social media shows female activists taking cover to escape a huge burst of water in the city of Herat on Saturday.
“Education is our right,” protesters can be heard chanting. In another clip, a woman shouts: “The Taliban are cowards.”
Women have also been banned from working for non-governmental organisations(NGOs) in the country.
Taliban leaders announced that female employees are prohibited from working for NGOs because some had failed to adhere to the Islamic dress code for women.
The economy ministry said it had received “serious” complaints about female staff not wearing the “correct” headscarf or hijab.
Meanwhile, Afghan leaders have also approved a return to public floggings and executions as they impose an extreme version of Islamic sharia law.
More than 100 men and women have reportedly been whipped since November 18 with between 20 and 100 lashes for alleged crimes such as theft and ‘illegitimate’ relationships.
Last week, the Taliban carried out what is believed to be the first public execution since they seized power in August 2021.
It was reported that the man put to death had been charged with murder and was shot by the father of his victim.
In the 20 years between the Taliban’s two reigns - after the US and UK helped to oust them from power - girls were allowed to go to school and women could find jobs in all sectors, but the country remained socially conservative.
However, most teenage girls were banned from secondary schools in March.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has asked the Taliban to revoke the university decision “immediately”.
It also urged them to “end all measures preventing women and girls from participating fully in daily public life”.
