Two women are dead and several more wounded after a rare public protest in Kabul on Tuesday, sources on the ground confirm. The demonstration, organised by a underground women's rights network, was met with live fire from Taliban security forces near the former Ministry of Women's Affairs building. Witnesses describe a scene of chaos: women chanting slogans for education and work being cut down in a hail of bullets.
The Taliban's so-called 'morality police' have since cordoned off the area, confiscating mobile phones and detaining anyone suspected of involvement. London has wasted no time in condemning the crackdown. The Foreign Office issued a statement calling the killings 'barbaric' and demanding an independent investigation.
But let's be clear: this is the same regime that banned girls from secondary schools and women from most jobs. The protest was a death sentence from the start. Uncovered documents from a leaked UN internal memo suggest that the Taliban's leadership council is deeply divided over the use of lethal force, with hardliners in the provinces pushing for even harsher measures.
Meanwhile, international aid organisations are quietly scaling back operations, fearing reprisals. The two dead women whose names are now being circulated on encrypted messaging apps: a former university lecturer and a 19-year-old student. Their families have been too terrified to claim their bodies.
This is the new normal under the Taliban. And the world watches, issues statements, and moves on.
