Taliban Forces Fire on Herat Dress-Code Protest — 11-Year-Old Boy Killed

Following the detention of at least 30 women in Herat for alleged noncompliance with Taliban dress-code enforcement, residents of a predominantly Hazara neighborhood staged a protest chanting 'Work, Education, and Freedom.' Taliban security forces beat and pushed protesters before opening fire as the crowd dispersed, killing an 11-year-old boy and wounding at least three others; house-to-house searches followed. Human Rights Watch researcher Fereshta Abbasi said the Taliban 'fear any dissent and so are escalating their repression of free expression.'