Afghan women hold street protest in front of Taliban fighters on Kabul

Reuters photo

New Delhi: Amid the brutal takeover of Afghanistan by Taliban insurgents, several videos emerged on social media of people from the country holding placards and demanding equal rights on the streets of Kabul. A few women, seen wearing hijabs, were seen holding up signs and shouting slogans even as Taliban fighters were standing nearby. In another clip, shared by an Al Jazeera correspondent, more women were seen marching through the streets, chanting slogans. The armed men seem to be pointing and speaking to the women, but don’t appear to be getting in the way of their protest.

On Tuesday, a report in Guardian claimed that Taliban's promises of 'safe passage' to the Kabul airport for Afghans trying to flee the country have been undermined by reports of women and children being beaten and whipped as they try to pass through checkpoints set up by the militants. 

The US says the Taliban has committed to 'safe passage' for people who want to reach the airport. But reports from the Afghan capital say that there have been incidents of violence at the checkpoints on Airport Road, including photographs of a woman and a child with head injuries after reportedly being beaten and whipped for trying to cross a checkpoint. The Taliban violently broke up a protest in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least one person as they quashed a rare public show of dissent. The militant group meanwhile met with former officials from the toppled Western-backed government.

As officials work to shape a future government, the United Arab Emirates acknowledged that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the Taliban advance, and his family were in that country. The Taliban's every action in their sudden sweep to power is being watched closely.