Two women are dead in Kabul after Taliban security forces opened fire on a small protest demanding equal rights. The crackdown comes hours after British Foreign Secretary David Lammy issued a carefully worded statement calling for “restraint and respect for human rights”.
Taliban sources say no order to fire was given. But eyewitness accounts describe a swift, brutal response to a group of fewer than twenty protesters. The regime knows London has few cards to play. Diplomatic pressure is cheap. Bullets are cheaper.
This is the first serious test of Labour’s Afghanistan policy. Lammy’s statement was drafted to avoid outright regime change language. No talk of sanctions. No threat of isolation. Just a plea. And the Taliban answered with live rounds.
Whitehall insiders admit they are scrambling. One senior official told me: “We are realistically powerless. We can’t even get our diplomats out of Kabul safely, let alone influence what happens inside.”
The protest was organised by women’s groups who had been emboldened by what they saw as a shift in Western rhetoric. They were wrong. The Taliban now calculates that no military intervention is coming. The West is exhausted. Afghanistan is forgotten except for occasional statements.
Conservative backbenchers are already sharpening their knives. One said: “Lammy’s statement was weak. It emboldened the Taliban. They see us as toothless.” But Labour MPs close to the Foreign Office argue that aggressive posturing would achieve nothing. “We are not going to send troops. So what do they want? A strongly worded letter?” another insider said.
The death toll could rise. Witnesses say several women are critically injured. The protest was calling for the reopening of girls’ secondary schools. Something the Taliban promised but never delivered.
Downing Street is expected to issue a second statement later today. But without a credible threat of consequences, it will be dismissed in Kabul as noise. The Taliban has heard it all before.
The tragedy exposes the hollowness of British diplomatic pressure in a country where the West’s departure was chaotic and final. The only leverage left is aid. But the Taliban knows the West is reluctant to punish a starving population.
I am told the Foreign Secretary is furious at the tone of coverage. He believes his team acted correctly. But in the lobby, the narrative is clear: another promise broken. Another protest met with blood.
This is not a crisis yet. But it is a warning. The Taliban is testing how much the world cares. The answer from London: not enough to stop trigger fingers.
