KABUL — Afghan police allegedly used live fire to disperse a rare protest against the detention of women accused of violating strict Islamic dress codes in the western city of Herat, witnesses said.Two people died at the protest, health workers said without specifying how the deaths occurred. A number of others at the protest were injured, the added.Both men and women had taken to the streets days after local Taliban government officials reportedly began arresting women perceived to be “improperly wearing the hijab”.Police in Herat denied witness accounts that protesters were dispersed with live fire and there had been deaths, but acknowledged they responded to the protest, saying officers had “taken action to ensure security and maintain public order”.A 33-year-old protester said the security forces “used sticks, whips and firearms to disperse the crowd. They even fired shots into the air”.Along with other residents, he spoke on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.The city’s police force denied that any weapons were used, accusing demonstrators of seeking “to disturb public order”.Protests are incredibly unusual in Afghanistan, where the Taliban authorities have ruled since August 2021.The protester said he saw people wounded, but his account could not be independently verified.”People are extremely frightened,” he said.A photographer at the rally said he saw the security forces “striking protesters and firing weapons in the direction of the crowd”.”Based on what I personally witnessed, a significant number of people were injured,” the photographer said in a statement.Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said in a post on X he was “alarmed by excessive use of force against seemingly peaceful protesters in Herat”.People gathered at the site after a social media announcement calling for residents to “defend the rights of our sisters”.Saeed Masoud Hussaini, spokesman for Herat police, said people “attempted to gather and create tensions under the pretext of protesting issues related to the observance of the hijab” dress code.”Thanks to the timely presence of security forces, the situation was brought fully under control, and further escalation of tensions was prevented,” he said.Across Afghanistan, women must be almost entirely covered when they leave home, with many wearing a flowing abaya robe, a headscarf and a face covering.A number of eyewitnesses said since Saturday they had “seen with their own eyes women being arrested for not wearing the hijab”.One woman said the markets had since been “deserted”, while another said officers from the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were checking cars and rickshaws for women wearing the hijab improperly.City officials have given conflicting accounts on whether or not women were being detained, with the Herat Provincial Information and Culture Department saying reports of dozens of arrests were “incorrect and rumored”.
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