Fighters’ response to Afghan protests increasingly violent: UN

The UN rights office on Friday said that the Taliban regime’s response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons and whips that have resulted in at least four protester deaths.

Ravina Shamdasani, UN rights spokesperson, told a UN briefing in Geneva that it had received reports of house-to-house searches for those who participated in the protests. Journalists have also faced intimidation and one of those who was beaten in custody was verbally threatened with a beheading, she added.