KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Nations has hit out at the use of force by the Taliban against peaceful demonstrators in Afghanistan.
“We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force and the arbitrary detention of the journalists covering the protests,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In a statement on Friday, Shamdasani referred to reports about house-to-house searches participants in the protests.
The spokesperson said: “One journalist was reported to have been told, as he was being kicked in the head that you are lucky you have not been beheaded.”
Several protests have been staged in the country since August 15, when the Taliban stormed into Kabul. On Wednesday, the Taliban banned unlawful assemblies.
The UN said the peaceful protesters faced an “increasingly violent response” from the Taliban, including the use of live ammunition and batons.
Between August 15 and August 19, the Taliban reportedly killed a man and a boy and injured eight others when they opened fire on protesters, she said.
At least five journalists were arrested and two severely beaten while covering a protest on Wednesday, Shamdasani noted.
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