• The surge of anger rocking Iran has echoed in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have dramatically tightened rules for women since their return to power.

  • A handful of women in solidarity with Iranian women demonstrated in Kabul on Thursday before shots in the air dispersed them.

  • In Iran, the troubles began on September 16 and the death of the young Mahsa Amini, after her arrest by the morality police.

"Woman, Life, Freedom" or "Iran is rising, now it's our turn".

Here are the slogans chanted by some 25 Afghan women who dared to demonstrate Thursday, headscarves, in front of the Iranian embassy in Kabul., in solidarity with the movement of anger caused by the death of the young Mahsa Amini .

The rally only lasted about fifteen minutes.

It was dispersed by shots fired in the air by the Taliban posted in front of the building, according to AFP journalists on the spot.

The Taliban also attempted to beat protesters with rifle butts, and also ordered reporters to delete photos and videos of the protest.

The women, some of whom had hidden their faces behind sunglasses and surgical masks, picked up the debris of their banners to make balls of paper and throw them at the Taliban facing them.

"Solidarity"

“We are here to show our support and our solidarity with the Iranian people and the women victims of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” said a protest organizer, on condition of anonymity.

These Afghan women recognize themselves in the movement of anger that is setting Iran ablaze, where demonstrations have taken place every night in Iran since September 16.

On that day, young Mahsa Amini died in hospital, three days after she was arrested in Tehran by the morality police for violating the strict dress code for women in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who must cover up. hair in public.



In Afghanistan, since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, several sporadic demonstrations by women have been organized in the capital and other cities of the country, despite their ban, whether against the loss of their jobs or to demand the right to work.

The Taliban closed most girls' schools

After 20 years of war and the departure of the American army from Afghanistan, the country's new leaders have indeed imposed very strict rules on the conduct of women, especially in public life, ordering women to wear a full veil. in public, preferably the burqa.

The dreaded Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice quickly replaced that of Women's Affairs and notably ordered the separation of women and men in Kabul's public parks.

Islamist fundamentalists have also closed secondary schools for girls in most provinces.

They ordered women to cover themselves fully in public, ideally with a burqa.

On Tuesday, a United Nations report denounced these "severe restrictions" on women's rights, in particular the ban on secondary education, and called on the Taliban to "immediately reverse this decision".

Lifting restrictions on women's rights is a key condition for recognition of the Taliban government, the international community has insisted.

So far, no country has recognized the Islamist government.

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