Taliban forces use tear gas, gunfire to end women’s rally

KABUL: Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air on Saturday, bringing an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights.

The women’s march - the second in as many days in Kabul began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outside Afghanistan’s defence ministry to honour Afghan soldiers who died fighting the Taliban. “We are here to gain human rights in Afghanistan,” said 20-year-old protester Maryam Naiby.

As the protesters’ shouts grew louder, several Taliban officials waded into the crowd to ask what they wanted to say.

Flanked by fellow demonstrators, Sudaba Kabiri, a 24-yearold university student, told the Taliban interlocutor that Islam’s Prophet gave women rights and they wanted theirs. The Taliban official promised women would be given their rights. But as the demonstrators reached the presidential palace, a dozen Taliban special forces ran into the crowd, firing in the air and sending demonstrators fleeing.

Footage showed women confronted by armed militants covering their mouths and coughing, and one demonstrator said the fighters had used tear gas and tasers against the participants. “They also hit women on the head with a gun magazine, and the women became bloody,” said a demonstrator.

Google locks Afghan govt’s email accounts

Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners.

One former government employee said the Taliban are seeking to acquire former officials’ emails. The employee said that the Taliban has asked him to preserve the data held on the servers of the ministry he used to work for.