Afghan women protest after Kabul school attack

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The family of a student killed in the attack in Kabul on the funeral march to her grave

Photo: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

After the deadly attack on a school in Kabul, people took to the streets in Afghanistan for the third day in a row, according to media reports on Monday.

Most of them were women.

Demonstrations initially took place in the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, Herat and Bamyan.

The protesters called for the right to education for women and for an end to the persecution of Shia Hazara.

The Taliban used violence against the protests, as reported by local media.

According to the United Nations, 53 students were killed in an attack on a private school in Kabul on Friday.

110 others were injured.

Most of the victims were girls and young women.

The incident took place in the Dashte Barchi district, which is mostly populated by the Hazara.

No one has known about the attack so far.

The Taliban, who have been back in power in Afghanistan since August 2021, cracked down on the demonstrators.

There were reportedly shots, beatings and arrests.

Demonstrators were dragged away by security forces.

Female students from Mazar-i Sharif reported being detained in their dormitory by the Taliban.

In Herat, a student told local media that male students were not allowed to take part in the protests in the first place.

The Taliban have closed schools for girls from the seventh grade.

However, universities and some private schools are still open to women.

Journalists also spoke of repression during the protests.

In many places they were not allowed to report and were threatened, it was said.

The website of the daily newspaper "Hasht-e-Sobh Daily" was blocked according to its own statements.

Amnesty International condemned the Taliban's actions and spoke on Monday of an "attack on the free press, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly".

Demonstrations also took place outside of Afghanistan after the attack.

The hashtag "StopHazaraGenocide" has been shared more than a million times on Twitter.

jso/dpa