Overview
- Dozens of people gathered in Herat on Tuesday in response to a morality-police crackdown that arrested women for not wearing the chador or burqa.
- Multiple witnesses and a photographer told AFP that security forces used sticks, whips and firearms and fired shots to disperse the crowd.
- Herat city police denied the use of weapons and accused protesters of trying to disturb public order.
- The UN mission in Afghanistan said it confirmed that at least one boy was shot dead and that several people were injured, and it is verifying reports of a second casualty.
- The episode underlines tighter enforcement of dress rules for women, the rarity and risk of public protest under Taliban rule, and the likelihood of further international scrutiny as verification continues.