KABUL: The Taliban struck several journalists to prevent media coverage of a women's rights protest in Kabul on Thursday.
A group of about 20 women marched from near the ministry of education to the ministry of finance in the Afghan capital.
Wearing colourful headscarves they chanted slogans including: "Don't politicise education", as traffic drove by shortly before 10 am.
The women held placards saying: "We don't have the rights to study and work", and" "Joblessness, poverty, hunger", as they walked with their arms in the air.
The Taliban authorities allowed the women to walk freely for around an hour and a half, AFP journalists saw.
However, one foreign journalist was struck with the butt of a rifle by one Taliban fighter, who swore and kicked the photographer in the back as another punched him.
At least two more journalists were hit as they scattered, pursued by Taliban fighters swinging fists and launching kicks.
Zahra Mohammadi, one of the protest organisers, told AFP the women were marching despite the risks they face.
"The situation is that the Taliban don't respect anything: not journalists -- foreign and local -- or women," she said.
"The schools must reopen to girls. But the Taliban took this right from us."
High school girls have been blocked from returning to classes for more than a month, while many women have been banned from returning to work since the Taliban seized power in mid-August.
"My message to all girls and women is this: 'Don't be afraid of the Taliban, even if your family doesn't allow you to leave your home. Don't be afraid. Go out, make sacrifices, fight for your rights'," Mohammadi said.
"We have to make this sacrifice so that the next generation will be in peace."
Children walked alongside the protest in downtown Kabul, although it was unclear if they were part of the organised group.
PAKISTAN FM'S VISIT
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in Kabul on Thursday for his first visit to the Afghan capital since the Taliban victory in August, following weeks of tension over transport links between the two neighbouring countries.
Qureshi will focus in his talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and other Taliban leaders "on ways and means to deepen cooperation in diverse areas", Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The delegation included the head of the ISI intelligence service, Faiz Hameed, who visited Kabul in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the city.
The visit comes after prolonged problems at the Chaman border crossing, one of the main trade transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has been closed for more than two weeks, causing severe problems for truckers and exporters.
In addition, Pakistan International Airlines, the only international airline that had been operating regularly in Kabul, last week suspended flights, complaining of interference and harassment of its staff by Taliban officials.
"The Foreign Minister's visit reflects Pakistan's consistent policy of supporting the brotherly Afghan people, deepening bilateral trade and economic relations, and facilitating closer people-to-people contacts," the ministry statement said.
The border closure has hurt Afghan fruit producers near the southern city of Kandahar, with pomegranates and other export produce left to rot because trucks cannot get through to their markets across the border. - AFP/Reuters
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