The UN rights office says the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons, and whips and causing the deaths of at least four protesters.
Protests and demonstrations, often led by women, pose a challenge to the new Islamist Taliban government as it seeks to consolidate control after seizing the capital Kabul nearly a month ago.
Since the group entered Kabul on Aug. 15, armed members have roamed the streets in battlefield dress, often with no obvious chain of command.
Many city dwellers are not used to the sight, and heavy-handed security tactics have not helped.
Ahmad, a Kabul teacher who was a small child when the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan 20 years ago, has adjusted to the shock of seeing their fighters on the streets. But weeks after the city fell, he feels no more reconciled to their presence. After 20 years of Western presence, Kabul is no longer the bombed-out shell the Taliban took over in 1996.
