Afghan police disperse women's rights rally in Herat

Afghan men staged a rare protest in Herat on Tuesday to push back against new restrictions on women, even as authorities denied witness accounts of live-fire dispersal. Dozens gathered in response to a crackdown by the Taliban morality police three days earlier, which detained women for not wearing the body-covering chador or burqa. A 33-year-old protester said security forces used sticks, whips and firearms, including shots fired into the air, to disperse the crowd, though authorities disputed such accounts. The UN’s Richard Bennett condemned the excessive force, while police attributed the unrest to attempts to disturb public order and said the situation was brought under control.