At least 20 women and girls in Afghanistan were reportedly pulled from the streets and beaten after being taken into custody by the Taliban’s morality police in the latest crackdown on women’s freedoms.
The group was detained in Kabul on Saturday. Witnesses said Taliban enforcers, accompanied by female officers, used force to push the women into a vehicle and take them away.
The alleged abuse comes as Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban authorities intensify restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms, five years after seizing control of the country.
Video obtained by local broadcaster Amu TV appeared to show several hijab-wearing women being struck as they were arrested. One witness said a pregnant woman was among those detained, despite her husband pleading with officials to release her.
‘They detained 20 girls and took them away,’ a witness told the US-based Afghan broadcaster. ‘A pregnant woman was among them. Her husband was crying and saying, “My wife is unwell. Do not hurt her or harass her”.’
‘She was two or three months pregnant. They hit her and dragged her away.’
Another woman said an officer seized her by the collar, ripping it during the confrontation. ‘When the struggle began, I resisted for five minutes. When they could not overpower me, a man came, grabbed me and took me away,’ she said.
She said she was slapped and ordered to wear a face mask before resisting again. ‘Look at how they treated me. When he slapped me in the face, I pulled off the mask and hit him with it, and I started fighting,’ she said.
At least 20 Afghan women and girls were reportedly taken from the streets and beaten in the latest alleged assault by the Taliban’s morality police
The women were detained in Kabul on Saturday and allegedly forced into a vehicle by Taliban enforcers accompanied by female personnel
A burqa-clad woman walks through the rain to collect food supplies distributed during Ramadan in Kabul in March 2025
‘I said I would not wear a mask and that from now on, as long as I am alive, I will not wear one.’
The women and girls are understood to have been released after relatives and community representatives gave guarantees on their behalf.
The reported arrests are the latest in a series of oppressive actions targeting Afghan women this year. Last month, at least nine women were detained over two days as Taliban authorities enforced strict dress rules under their interpretation of Sharia law.
Amu TV reported that the women were arrested in Herat even though they were wearing hijabs. The detentions came amid growing concerns over the Taliban’s escalating psychological pressure and abuse directed at women across Afghanistan.
According to a Herat resident, women are becoming increasingly afraid to leave their homes. ‘They harass women everywhere under the pretext of enforcing morality,’ the resident said.
‘Women are being detained, intimidated and subjected to psychological abuse, yet no one is listening.’
Another resident said four women were detained outside the Marble Market on Monday despite complying with the Taliban’s dress requirements. ‘They were wearing hijab,’ the resident said. ‘They were taken simply because they were wearing long coats.’
Residents in Kabul have also reported that Taliban morality police have been increasing their street patrols.
Taliban patrols outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021
Supporters of Taliban government rally as part of celebrations to mark the fifth anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August
An Afghan woman wearing a burqa walks along a market in Andkhoy, Faryab Province, Northern Afghanistan
Meanwhile, in the Panjshir province, the Taliban recently told female doctors working at a local hospital that they would not be allowed to work unless they wore a burqa.
The attack in Herat came just weeks after a protest against the Taliban’s morality police left one person dead and several more wounded. Officials opened fire on demonstrators during a protest back in June after dozens took to the streets to denounce the detention of women and girls arrested for violating the country’s dress code.
Footage obtained by Amu TV showed residents running in fear down a street in the Jibrail township, north-west of Herat City, amid the sound of multiple gunshots.
Protesters can be heard screaming as others were beaten to the ground by officials wielding long sticks. Armed men can be seen breaking up the demonstration, including fully veiled women among the protesters.
Sayed Masoud Hosseini, spokesman for Herat police, told the state-run Bakhtar News Agency that the gathering had ‘created tensions’ and disturbed public order under the pretext of opposing the Islamic hijab, which he described as a religious obligation.
The demonstration followed days of growing outrage over the detention of women and girls in Herat, for allegedly failing to comply with the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic dress requirements.
Dozens of women, including at least 21 whose detentions were independently confirmed, had been taken into custody by officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Amu TV claimed.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has steadily expanded restrictions on women and girls – including bans on secondary and university education, limits on employment and increasingly strict regulations governing their appearance and movement in public.
Herat, long regarded as one of Afghanistan’s most socially and culturally vibrant cities, has undergone significant changes.
The human rights arm of the UN delivered a damning assessment of conditions in Afghanistan in a report released in March, warning that life for ordinary Afghans, especially women and girls, has severely worsened under the Taliban.
Presenting the report, UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said: ‘The cascade of edicts and laws announced by the authorities since coming to power in 2021 is having a crushing impact on the Afghan people, particularly women and girls.’
Women remain excluded from all education above primary school age, following a ban from higher education since December 2022.
In November 2025, medical graduation examinations were held without the participation of women for the second consecutive year, after having been banned from medical institutes since December 2024.
Women deemed not to be complying with the chador requirement – the traditional Islamic full-body cloak – have been removed from public transport and denied access to public markets and services.
Meanwhile, a new law demands that girls wait until puberty before seeking to get out of a marriage, and also requires mediation for women seeking to escape an abusive husband.
‘The authorities have, in effect, criminalised the presence of women and girls in public life,’ Mr Turk said. ‘Discrimination affects their healthcare, their access to civic space, and their freedom of movement and expression.’
‘Afghanistan is a graveyard for human rights,’ he concluded.
