Anti-Taliban protests reach 29 cities worldwide

Afghan citizens and supporters of women's rights organized demonstrations in 29 cities spanning Europe, North America, Australia, and parts of Asia. The actions followed the arrest of women in Herat and the Taliban's response to protests held on June 9.

The protests occurred in several German cities including Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, and Darmstadt. In Canada, gatherings took place in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. Additional locations included Stockholm and Uppsala in Sweden, Vienna in Austria, Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra in Australia, as well as Paris, Brussels, Bilbao, Helsinki, Madrid, Rome, Luxembourg, Zurich, Washington, Chicago, Tehran, and Mashhad.

Participants raised slogans including Education, Work and Freedom and Save the Women of Afghanistan. They urged the international community to apply pressure on the Taliban, withhold recognition of the regime, and classify its policies toward women as gender apartheid.

At least two teenagers lost their lives and others sustained injuries during the Taliban's suppression of the June demonstrations in Herat. Amnesty International and United Nations human rights rapporteurs released statements criticizing the handling of the peaceful protests.

Inside Afghanistan, the presence of women on the streets of Herat has notably declined under strict security conditions.