Taliban fire on Herat protest over arrests of women for dress-code violations
At least two people have been killed and more than 20 others wounded after Taliban police opened fire on a protest in the western Afghan city of Herat, according to accounts from witnesses and a statement by UN-appointed experts. The demonstration was held in response to the arrest of women over alleged dress-code violations. Witnesses said the crowd numbered about 100 to 150 people.
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The protest followed weekend arrests in Herat, where morality police detained dozens of women for not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa. The UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said one of those killed was a boy who was shot. They also said some of the wounded were beaten with sticks, and described the detentions as potentially arbitrary and unlawful.
The experts said the allegations were deeply concerning because they appeared to penalise the exercise of freedom of expression and protection from gender discrimination. The crackdown has drawn condemnation because it combines a lethal response to public dissent with enforcement of restrictions on women's dress. Afghanistan has been under Taliban rule since 2021, and protests against government decisions are rare and illegal.
The authorities have imposed rules based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law, including dress requirements for women when they leave home. The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice says women must be almost entirely covered, although many wear an abaya robe, headscarf and face covering rather than a chador or burqa. The incident also comes amid a broader communications shutdown across Afghanistan, with internet and mobile services cut nationwide.
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Human rights groups say that disruption is likely to affect women and girls particularly severely, limiting access to information and contact with the outside world. In that context, the Herat protest is part of a wider pattern of tightening social control and reduced space for public dissent. The use of force against demonstrators adds to concerns about how the Taliban are enforcing their rules.
Herat is one of Afghanistan's major western cities and has been a focal point for the enforcement of morality rules. The arrests over the weekend appear to have triggered the protest earlier this week, showing how quickly local enforcement actions can escalate into wider unrest. The reported use of live fire against demonstrators is significant because it suggests a willingness to meet even limited public opposition with lethal force.
That has implications for both internal security and the treatment of women under Taliban rule. The UN-appointed experts said the detentions may amount to arbitrary and unlawful detention, and they framed the issue as one of basic rights including equality, peaceful assembly, freedom of expression and movement. Their intervention indicates that the incident is being watched as a human-rights case as well as a security event.
The Taliban's morality police, which enforce the dress code, are central to that dispute because they are the body carrying out the arrests that prompted the protest. The episode therefore links local policing, national policy and international scrutiny. What remains unclear is the full condition of those wounded, whether any arrests were made during the protest, and whether the Taliban will give an official account of the shooting.
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It is also not clear how long the communications shutdown will last or whether it will affect reporting from Herat and other parts of the country. The key issues to watch are any further casualties, any response from Taliban authorities, and whether international pressure changes the enforcement of dress-code rules. The incident is likely to remain a test of how the Taliban handle dissent and women's rights under their current system.
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