Taliban soldiers armed with assault rifles ‘tear gas and beat bloody’ women’s rights protesters in Kabul

that tear gas was used on them and the men fired their guns into the air as they broke up the march.

Several of the women are also reported to have been detained by the Taliban over the march - which is the latest protest to hit Kabul.

also reported protesters said they were "attacked" by the Taliban with tear gas and a number of them were beaten.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the organisers had not coordinated the protest with them - but did not comment on the reports of violence.

Many women in Afghanistan fear for the future under the new rule of Taliban after the brutal, oppressive and sexist laws enacted by the group when they ruled the nation in the 90s.

They think this is a man’s country but it is not, it is a woman’s country too

Farhat Popalzai

Women already face being whitewashed from public life - with shop fronts featuring female faces being painted over and female newscasters being replaced on TV.

Farhat Popalzai, another 24-year-old university student, said she wanted to be the voice of Afghanistan’s voiceless women - with many too afraid to leave home.

Some protesters are said to have defied their families - including sneaking out of them homes to demand equal rights.

She said: "I am the voice of the women who are unable to speak. They think this is a man’s country but it is not, it is a woman’s country too.”

And protester Maryam Naiby, 20, said: "We are here to gain human rights in Afghanistan. I love my country. I will always be here."

The Taliban are feared to be poised to resurrect their horrific interpretation of Sharia law – which involves women being murdered for showing too much flesh, demanding basic human rights, having affairs and being rape victims.

Taliban officials have however insisted they want women to play a role in Afghanistan as they attempt to put on a more modern face.

However, many remain unsure of these pledges - with widespread reports of oppression and abuse emerging as they surged back to power over the last few weeks.

The brutes have already reportedly burnt to death a woman they said served below-par cooking to its members.

Taliban squads have been going door to door in Afghanistan kidnapping children as young as 12 to use as child brides and sex slaves since they swept back to power in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Taliban forces reportedly also today painted over murals that promoted health care and warned of the dangers of HIV

Cultural commission spokesman Ahmadullah Muttaqi tweeted that the murals were painted over “because they are against our values".

"They were spoiling the minds of the mujahedeen and instead we wrote slogans that will be useful to everyone," he said.

British, American and other allied forces defeated the Taliban in 2001 after they allegedly harboured al-Qaeda terrorists who plotted the World Trade Centre attacks on 9/11.

Western nations have spent 20 years trying to rebuild Afghanistan as a new democratic government was installed and brutal laws enacted by the Taliban were ended.

However, the occupation was under constant attack from terrorist forces - and US President Joe Biden had declared his desire to end so-called "forever wars".

Some 20 years of work was undone in a matter of weeks as the Taliban surged back to power - sometimes unopposed - and recaptured Kabul as Western forces boarded evacuation planes.

US President Joe Biden in particular is facing heavy criticism over the botched handling of the withdrawal in what is being described as one of the biggest foreign policy disasters since the Vietnam War.

However, resistance forces holding out in Afghanistan's final free district, the Panjshir Valley, are continuing to fight back against the Taliban.