Afghanistan - 5th September 2021

Taliban officials have broken up a demonstration by dozens of women in Kabul demanding rights following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
The group say the Taliban targeted them with tear gas and pepper spray as they tried to walk from a bridge to the presidential palace.
But the Taliban maintain the protest got out of control, according to Afghan media outlet Tolo News.
It's the latest of several protests by women in Kabul and Herat.
The women were calling for the right to work and to be included in the government. The Taliban say they will announce the make-up of their administration in the coming days.
The Taliban have said women can be involved in government, but not hold ministerial positions.
Many women fear a return to the way they were treated when the Taliban were previously in power, between 1996 and 2001. Women were forced to cover their faces outside, and harsh punishments were meted out for minor transgressions.
"Twenty-five years ago, when the Taliban came, they prevented me from going to school," journalist Azita Nazimi told Tolo.
"After five years of their rule, I studied for 25 years and worked hard. For the sake of our better future, we will not allow this to happen."
Another demonstrator, Soraya, told Reuters: "They also hit women on the head with a gun magazine, and the women became bloody."

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• ANALYSIS: What rise of Taliban means for Pakistan
  
• BACKGROUND: The story of Afghanistan’s 'undefeated' valley
  
• ON THE GROUND: In Kabul, Afghans adjust to a new, uncertain fate
  
• VOICES: Kabul make-up artist: 'Women like me are targets'
  

On Saturday, US General Mark Milley questioned whether the Taliban would be able to transition from an insurgent force to a government, saying there was a "good probability" of civil war.
"That will then in turn lead to conditions that could, in fact, lead to a reconstitution of Al-Qaeda or a growth of Isis [Islamic State group]," he told Fox News.
Meanwhile the UK's Head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Nick Carter, defended military intelligence over criticism it failed to predict the Taliban's advance, saying even the Taliban themselves were surprised at how easily they took control.
He told the BBC "a lot of money changed hands as they managed to buy off those who might have fought for them".
Clashes have continued over the weekend in the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul, where resistance fighters have been thwarting efforts by the Taliban to exert control.
But there's been claim and counter-claim. The Taliban maintain they've taken control of two more districts and are heading for the centre of the province.
A spokesman for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) said heavy fighting was continuing and thousands of Taliban had been surrounded.

National Resistance Front fighters say they've resisted the Taliban offensive

The Panjshir Valley, home to between 150,000 and 200,000 people, was a centre of resistance when Afghanistan was under Soviet occupation in the 1980s and during the Taliban's previous period of rule.
The NRF's leader, Ahmad Massoud, praised protests by women in Herat, and said Panjshir continued to resist.
None of the claims by the NRF or the Taliban could be independently verified.
In a further sign of Kabul's airport resuming activity following the US withdrawal last week, Afghan airline Ariana announced internal flights to three cities: Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.
Al-Jazeera TV quoted Qatar's ambassador as saying a technical team from Qatar had succeeded in reopening the airport to receive aid flights.

Taliban accused of killing pregnant police officer

Banu Negar's family say the officer was eight months pregnant when she was killed

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a policewoman in a provincial city, witnesses have told the BBC.

The woman, named in local media as Banu Negar, was killed at the family home in front of relatives in Firozkoh, the capital of central Ghor province.

The killing comes amid increasing reports of escalating repression of women in Afghanistan.

The Taliban told the BBC they had no involvement in Negar's death and are investigating the incident.

Spokesman Zabiullah Mujaheed said: "We are aware of the incident and I am confirming that the Taliban have not killed her, our investigation is ongoing."

He added that the Taliban had already announced an amnesty for people who worked for the previous administration, and put Negar's murder down to "personal enmity or something else".

Details of the incident are still sketchy as many in Firozkoh fear retribution if they speak out. But three sources have told the BBC that the Taliban beat and shot Negar dead in front of her husband and children on Saturday.

Relatives supplied graphic images showing blood spattered on a wall in the corner of a room and a body, the face heavily disfigured.

The family say Negar, who worked at the local prison, was eight months pregnant.

Three gunmen arrived at the house on Saturday and searched it before tying members of the family up, relatives say.

The intruders were heard speaking Arabic, a witness said.

On Saturday, Taliban officials broke up a demonstration by dozens of women in Kabul

Since taking power on 15 August, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more tolerant than their global reputation suggests, but incidents of brutality and repression are still being reported in parts of Afghanistan.

Human rights groups have been documenting revenge killings, detentions and persecution of religious minorities. The Taliban have said officially that they will not seek retribution against those who worked for the former government.

Analysis by Lyse Doucet - Chief International Correspondent

"No grudges, no revenge," was the Taliban message at their first press conference after they took power. But there's a growing chasm between Taliban statements and the message coming from the streets where every Talib has a gun and controls his own corner.
It's hard to gauge the extent of abuse and harassment, particularly of women, across this country. Horrific incidents may be isolated but there's an everyday tension now enveloping the lives of many women, especially professionals, and those who must work to feed their families.
In Kabul, everyone I've spoken to - former government advisers, airline cabin crew, teachers, hairdressers - are worried. Some are downright scared. Some are hiding in safe houses.
The Taliban continue to stress that "women and girls will have all their rights within Islam". But rules which are emerging, such as the new dress code and classes segregated by gender at universities, underscore how women's lives are set to change, beyond recognition.

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The Taliban on Sunday gave more details of how segregation of the sexes will be enacted in universities.
In an extensive document, the new authorities said men and women must be separated, if necessary by a curtain.
Ideally, women will be taught by women but if none are available then "old men" of good character can step in, AFP reports.
Female students must wear an abaya, or robe, and niqab, or face veil.
On Saturday, Taliban officials broke up a demonstration by dozens of women in Kabul demanding the continuation of rights built up since the end of the Taliban's previous spell in power.
The group say the Taliban targeted them with tear gas and pepper spray as they tried to walk from a bridge to the presidential palace.
Meanwhile, fighting is reported to be continuing in the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul. The province is the only part of Afghanistan actively resisting Taliban rule.
The Taliban say their forces are now in the provincial capital, Bazarak, where they inflicted "numerous casualties".
But the opposition National Resistance Front of Afghanistan earlier accused the Taliban of spreading fake propaganda.

Life under the Taliban: Where is your male escort?
By Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, Kabul

"Why are you travelling without a mahram?" the Taliban guard asks a young Afghan woman about her missing male escort.
She sits on her own in the back of a beat-up Kabul yellow taxi as it pulls up to the checkpoint marked, like all the others, by the white Taliban flag with black script.
What is allowed now in Kabul, and what is not?
The turbaned Talib, rifle slung over shoulder, tells her to call her husband. When she explains she doesn't have a phone, he instructs another taxi driver to take her home to get her husband and bring them back. Once completed, all is resolved.
Kabul is still a city of a grinding traffic gridlock, wooden market carts groaning with Afghan green grapes and deep purple plums, and street kids in tattered tunics threading through the melee.

On the surface, the city seems much the same. It's not.
It's a capital governed by Taliban statements, and some Taliban on the streets.