Click to expand Image Afghan women walk across a street in Herat on June 8, 2026. © 2026 Mohsen Karimi/AFP via Getty Images (New York) – Taliban security forces in Afghanistan used excessive force against protesters in the city of Herat on June 9, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. They beat protesters and shot toward the crowds, killing a child and injuring others, and detained an unknown number of people. The protest followed recent arrests of women in Herat accused of violating the authorities’ strict dress code. According to the United Nations, at least 30 women had been detained as of June 7 for alleged “noncompliance” with dress requirements. Herat residents said that officials of the Taliban’s Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice—the “morality police”—had called for strict adherence to the dress code at Friday prayers on June 5 as part of a wider crackdown; Kabul residents also told Human Rights Watch that they had received such instructions. “The Taliban authorities fear any dissent and so are escalating their repression of free expression and other basic rights,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should cease these attacks and ensure that Afghans can protest peacefully without fear of violence or arrest.” The protest broke out in a predominantly Hazara neighborhood. One protester told Human Rights Watch that Taliban security forces had closed the roads before the protest started to keep people away. “It was calm at the beginning, until the Taliban started beating and pushing people,” she said. “When the crowd began to get bigger, they started shooting and some protesters started throwing stones. I saw a few injured people, including one who had been shot in the back.” Witnesses said the security forces at first shot into the air to disperse the crowds b