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Afghan women hold protest against harsh restrictions in capital Kabul to demand education and work

Dozens of Afghan women held a protest against the Taliban's harsh restrictions on their rights in capital Kabul by chanting "bread, work, freedom". "Education is my right! Reopen schools!" chanted the protesters, many of them wearing face-covering veils, as they gathered in front of the ministry of education.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

About two dozen Afghan women chanting "bread, work, freedom" protested in the capital on Sunday against the Taliban's harsh restrictions on their rights.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

Since seizing power in August, the Taliban have rolled back the marginal gains made by women during the two decades of US intervention in Afghanistan.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

"Education is my right! Reopen schools!" chanted the protesters, many of them wearing face-covering veils, as they gathered in front of the ministry of education.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

Demonstrators marched for a few hundred metres before ending the rally as authorities deployed Taliban fighters in plain clothes, an AFP correspondent reported.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

"We wanted to read out a declaration but the Taliban didn't allow it," said protester Zholia Parsi.

"They took the mobile phones of some girls and also prevented us from taking photos or videos of our protest."

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

After seizing power, the Taliban had promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. But many restrictions have already been imposed.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

Tens of thousands of girls have been shut out of secondary schools, while women have been barred from returning to many government jobs.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

Women have also been banned from traveling alone and can only visit public gardens and parks in the capital on days separate from men.

This month, the country's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada said women should generally stay at home.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

They were ordered to conceal themselves completely, including their faces, should they need to go out in public.

The decree, which triggered international outrage, carried echoes of the Taliban's first reign, when they made the all-covering burqa mandatory for women.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

The Taliban have also banned protests calling for women's rights and dismissed calls by the United Nations to reverse their restrictions.

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Afghan women demand education and work at Kabul protest

Some Afghan women initially pushed back against the curbs, holding small protests.

But the Taliban soon rounded up the ringleaders, holding them incommunicado while denying they had been detained.