At the Afghan Independence Day protests in Kabul, August 19, 2021, women carried the national flag of Afghanistan. Stringer/Reuters
From Kabul, videos have emerged of brave Afghan women leading street protests by men.
One video shows a woman raising her fist to encourage the men in her midst to march on.
The flag of Afghanistan was held high by women while they led the marchers behind.
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Online, you can see amazing videos of courageous women leading men in protests against Taliban on the streets.
Many Afghan women fear for their safety and lives under the Taliban's brutal rule. This has historically severely restricted women's rights.
However, some marched alongside and in front of men on Thursday to protest the violence and chanted slogans while holding flags high.
On Thursday, 102 years have passed since Afghanistan was independent from Britain. A large number of Afghans participated in protests. Al Jazeera reports that protestors waved the national flag to protest the Taliban.
One video shows a woman raising her fist to urge the men around her forward.
Another video featured a young woman wearing a flag around her shoulders and leading people along Kabul's streets.
Other videos of the Independence Day protests at Kabul showed young men and women standing shoulder-to-shoulder, waving the Afghanistan flag high, and singing "our flag, Our identity."
It is not clear if Afghan women will have the right to work in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan or not.
When the Taliban was in power in 2001, women's rights were severely limited. According to a 2001 US State Department report, women were required to cover their heads with Sharia laws and could not leave the house without a male relative.
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Female activists and leaders in Afghanistan have warned women that their freedom of speech could be a real threat to their lives.
The former captain of Afghanistan's women's soccer team requested her teammates to throw away their uniforms and erase all evidence on social media that they had ever played for Afghanistan. This was to protect them from the Taliban. Zarifa Ghafari (a 27-year old female mayor and activist for women's rights) told the UK media outlet iNews that the Taliban would "come after people like me and murder me."
The Taliban takeover sparked chaos and violence. On August 19, at least three people were killed during anti-Taliban protests held in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Reuters reported that gunshots were heard at a Kabul rally on Thursday, but no deaths were immediately reported.
Social media users shared graphic images of Afghans who were injured in fighting with Taliban militants earlier this week. To stop the Afghans fleeing the country, the Taliban used whips, guns, and sticks.
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