The women were assaulted with rifle butts, tear gas and metal clubs, while anti-Taliban rebels in the north vowed to repel an assault by the Islamist group.
Taliban fighters violently suppressed a women’s protest Saturday in Kabul, while 70 miles to the north ex-Afghan army and militia members battled the Islamist group in Panjshir Province, as pockets of anti-Taliban resistance continued to flare up. Several of the women, who were demanding inclusion in the yet-to-be named Taliban government, said they were beaten by Taliban fighters — some of the first concrete evidence of harsh treatment of women by the group. Since they swept to power last month the Taliban leaders have been on a “ charm offensive ” seeking to convince the world, aid groups and their own population that the harsh rule they imposed in their last stint in power, from 1996 to 2001, was a thing of the past. But there was little restraint in evidence at the Kabul protest. A 24-year-old participant said in a telephone interview that the Taliban tried to rout the gathering of about 100 women using tear gas, rifle butts and metal clubs or tools. She said she received five stitches to close a head wound after she was knocked unconscious with a blow from one of the metal objects. “When I tried to resist and continue the march, one of the armed Taliban pushed me and hit me with a sharp metal device,” said the woman, who the Times is identifying only be her first name, Nargis, to guard against retribution. “They pushed everybody away and forced us to leave while chasing us with their spray, weapons and metal devices,” said Nargis. “The Taliban kept cursing, using abusive language.” Video of the incident on Afghan news media outlets showed a bearded Taliban member, surrounded by gunmen, exhorting the women to disperse through a megaphone, which was then snatched from his hand by one of the women. On Friday night the Taliban pushed further into the Panjshir valley in an effort to crush resistance led by Ahmad Massoud, son of the legendary resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who held off the Taliban 25 years ago. An Italian aid group, Emergency, which operates a hospital in the valley, said on Twitter that the Taliban had reached the village of Anabah, inside Panjshir Province. In a video he sent to the BBC, another of the rebels’ leaders, a former vice president, Amrullah Saleh, acknowledged that his forces are under assault but vowed that they would not surrender.
