Taliban use water cannon on women protesting university ban

By RIAZAT BUTT
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Eyewitnesses in the western Afghan city of Herat say Taliban forces used a water cannon to disperse a protest over their university ban for women. The decision to bar women from private and public higher education institutes in Afghanistan has triggered fierce global condemnation and sparked rare protests in the country and beyond. The Taliban government’s minister of higher education says the ban is necessary to prevent the mixing of genders and because he believes some subjects being taught violate Islamic principles. About two dozen women headed to the provincial governor’s house in the Afghan city of Herat on Saturday to protest the ban but were forced back by a water cannon.