Afghan Resistance Leader Ahmad Massoud Backs Herat Protesters

Ahmad Massoud, leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, reacted to the suppression of recent protests in Herat against the Taliban’s stringent restrictions on women, describing these actions as a sign of “governance based on fear, humiliation, and violence.” He called upon the international community, as well as political and civil factions, to take an explicit stance against it.

Following a fresh wave of protests against strict dress code regulations for women in Herat, Taliban forces have engaged in widespread detentions of young women and girls in recent days on the charge of “improper hijab” - actions that, according to local sources, have been accompanied by violent crackdowns.

Reports also indicate that during the protests of the past few days, at least two individuals, including a child, have lost their lives. Concurrently, many families still have no information regarding the status and whereabouts of those detained.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has rejected reports concerning the detention of women and shootings targeting protesters, and the Herat police threatened in a statement that any action “disrupting public security” will face a “serious, Sharia-based, and principled” crackdown.

Under these circumstances, Ahmad Massoud, pointing to the protests by the men and women of Herat in his statement, said that this resistance demonstrates that “tyranny is never capable of silencing the people’s will to confront oppression.” He also accused the Taliban of building its legitimacy on fear through suppression and violence.

He further pointed to the restrictions on media and the closure of avenues for seeking justice, adding that what leaks out of Herat and Kabul is only a fraction of the “widespread oppression against the people of Afghanistan, particularly women.”

In conclusion, Massoud called upon all political and cultural forces, as well as international institutions, to emerge from their silence and adopt a “responsible and clear stance” regarding the current situation in Afghanistan, emphasizing that the time for neutrality in the face of this crisis has passed.