Afghans Stage Rare Herat Protests Over Women's Rights as 2 Died in Earlier Unrest
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 12
Afghans Stage Rare Herat Protests Over Women's Rights as 2 Died in Earlier Unrest
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 12
Summary
Herat saw another rare public protest against Taliban restrictions on women on Friday, with demonstrators marching toward a government building and chanting “Women, Work and Freedom!”
Wide-ranging security measures followed after Tuesday’s Herat protests left 2 people dead — including a boy — and at least 20 injured, according to the United Nations.
Sayed Masoud Hussaini, a Herat police spokesman, denied reports of arrests or injuries among what he called “agitators,” contradicting witness accounts and the U.N.
Dozens of masked men and women had already gathered in a public square earlier this week, underscoring unusual open dissent in Herat, a relatively liberal city influenced by Hazara communities and returnees expelled from Iran.