Featured Image Credit: Getty Images
Topics: World News, Military, Viral, US News
Tom Fenton
Taliban soldiers have been spotted enjoying some leisure time in pedalo boats on the one-year anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan.
The group swept through the central Asian country last August, sending shockwaves around the world when they eventually stormed the capital city of Kabul - and toppled the existing Afghan government.
Taken from one of the lakes at Ban-e-Amir National Park, Taliban soldiers were pictured enjoying the sunshine earlier this week, with some even seen with their families.
Others could be seen jumping into the water, amid sweltering temperatures of 40 degrees in the surrounding region.
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However, away from the picturesque lake, a group of women who have had many of their rights stripped away by the repressive regime were making themselves heard on Saturday morning (13 August).
A rally, taking place just a day before the one-year anniversary of the Taliban's return to power, was organised outside of the Education Ministry building in Kabul.
Over 40 women attended, chatting 'bread, work and freedom', in response to some of the laws the Taliban has introduced over the past year.
Some even cried, "justice, justice...we're fed up with ignorance", which eventually led to intervention from the Taliban intelligence service - who began firing bullets into the air.
Over the past year, the group has rolled back many of the freedoms Afghan women were afforded under the previous US-backed regime.
This includes the right to attend school, which the Taliban famously banned girls from during its first stint in charge of the country back in the 1990s.
The Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam places numerous limits a woman's autonomy, as they are no longer able to travel alone on long trips, and cannot visit parks in the capital on days when men will be present.
Alongside the banning of tens of thousands of girls from secondary schools, the country's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada mandated that women should fully cover themselves in public places.
Richard Bennett, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, told reporters that the policies showed a 'pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in the society' during a visit to Kabul back in May.
While demonstrations against the Taliban were initially regular occurrences, numbers are dwindling of late due to the group's tough stance against those who partake in them.
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