The United Nations has expressed profound concern regarding the arrest of numerous women in Afghanistan, with reports indicating that two people have lost their lives during protests supporting the detained women.

On Monday, in Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city, demonstrators gathered to express their opposition to the Taliban’s stringent policies affecting women. These protests were met with significant security responses from authorities on Friday.

Online sources and regional media have circulated reports that protesters advanced toward a governmental building in Herat. They carried signs and chanted slogans like ‘Women, Work and Freedom!’ While videos are available depicting these protests, their authenticity remains unverifiable.

The demonstrations on Friday were a continuation of earlier protests on Tuesday, which resulted in the deaths of two individuals, including a young boy. The United Nations also reported injuries to at least 20 other participants.

Sayed Masoud Hussaini, a spokesperson for Herat police, refuted claims of arrests or casualties, describing the protesters as ‘agitators,’ a statement that contradicts eyewitness accounts and the United Nations.

Tuesday’s protests witnessed a gathering of men and women in Herat, a city known for its liberal stance, despite the challenges faced by its Hazara minority and Afghan refugees expelled from Iran in the previous year. Demonstrators, with faces concealed by scarves and masks, chanted for education, work, and freedom. Their slogans drew inspiration from the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests that occurred in Iran in 2022.