KABUL: Dozens of women protested on Thursday in Afghanistan’s capital, demanding the right to education, jobs and political representation from the Taliban government.
Although public protests are effectively banned by Afghanistan’s new rulers, authorities gave permission for the march — held in biting cold after the first snowfall of winter in Kabul.
“Food, careers and freedom,” participants chanted, while others held placards demanding women get political posts.
Some protesters carried banners echoing Taliban complaints that the international community had frozen billions of dollars in aid and assets.
The Taliban have pledged a softer rule, compared with their first stint in power in the 1990s, but women are still largely excluded from government employment and secondary school education.
Despite being permitted to protest, participants said they remained in fear of the country’s new rulers.
At one intersection Taliban fighters cocked and raised their weapons, but the march was allowed to continue.
“Fear is always there, but we cannot live in fear — we have to fight against our fear,” said 28-year-old Shahera Kohistan.
FLIGHTS RESUME
Meannwhile, flights to and from Kabul resumed on Thursday after hours of delays caused by overnight snow that blanketed the capital.
Kabul’s streets were largely empty as shop owners, government employees and workers stayed indoors to seek shelter from the freezing weather.
The cold snap has added to Afghanistan’s woes, with the United Nations and other organisations warning millions will need food and shelter from the country’s harsh winter.
“We’re looking at one of the worst humanitarian crises we’ve ever seen,” the international charity Save the Children said in a statement.
The NGO’s Afghanistan country director Nora Hassanien said about 14 million children faced “life threatening” hunger during winter.
“This heart-breaking and unjust scenario is being made worse because of sanctions and counter-terror policies, which can disrupt and delay the delivery of lifesaving aid,” she said.
Afghanistan’s economy, already battered by decades of war, plunged deeper into crisis after billions of dollars in international aid was cut off following the takeover by the Taliban on August 15.
Banks have also placed severe restrictions on withdrawals by private customers, and many in the capital have resorted to selling household possessions to buy food for their families.
The crisis has also severely hit the local currency, with the Afghani hitting a record-low of 130 to the dollar Monday.
It had strengthened to 101 by Thursday after forex traders and the central bank held a meeting to stabilise the local currency.
“Decisions were taken to punish those smuggling dollars, and the central bank also promised to intervene in the market as and when needed,” Haji Abdul Rahman Zeerak, spokesman for the Money Exchange Association said. — AFP
