A violent crackdown on a protest in western Afghanistan against the arrests of women for allegedly violating dress code regulations has left at least one person dead, the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan said Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses said they saw Taliban police open fire during a protest on Tuesday by about 100 to 150 people against the arrests of women over the weekend in the western city of Herat.
The U.N. mission said Wednesday it had “confirmed that at least one person, a boy, was killed by gunfire, while several others suffered injuries including from being beaten with sticks.” It said it was also verifying reports of a second fatality.
Protests are rare in Afghanistan, which has been run by the Taliban since 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. The government has since imposed rules governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah. Dissent is not tolerated, and protests against government decisions are illegal.
The regulations include draconian restrictions on women and girls, including bans on education beyond primary school and what women can wear.
The rules stipulate that women can only go out in public when wearing full hijab — which includes a headscarf and long robe covering the entire body — as well as a face covering that leaves only the eyes visible. The regulations are policed by the feared Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
The U.N. mission, known by its acronym UNAMA, said that at last 30 women were arrested in Herat on Saturday and Sunday. “Dozens more women reportedly received verbal warnings. While the women were released on 8 June, the impact of such arbitrary arrests and detentions on women and their families is profound,” it said in a statement.
UNAMA called on authorities to rescind policies that restrict the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, and stressed that law enforcement “must comply with international legal standards.”
“Individuals have the right to express dissent peacefully without fear of violence, intimidation or reprisals,” it said.
Herat police command spokesperson Sayed Masoud Hosseini said in a statement Wednesday that the police “takes a serious, Shariah, and principled approach to any action that disrupts public security.”
He said “a number of rioters” had gathered on Tuesday “under the pretext of protesting issues related to the observance of the hijab and opposition to the Islamic hijab, and acted to disrupt public order.” He said security forces' presence “brought the situation under control in the shortest possible time.”
“The Herat Provincial Security Command once again emphasizes that individual and social freedoms must be implemented within the framework of Shariah law and social values, and any behavior or action that disrupts public security, creates tension, and disrupts public order is unacceptable.”
On Monday, Afghanistan’s vice and virtue ministry dismissed the reports of arrests and detentions of women.
“The issues being spread about women being arrested in Herat are all rumors,” it said in a statement, adding that wearing the “hijab is a divine command, a law that we are obliged to implement.”
Georgette Gagnon, the U.N.’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and officer in charge of UNAMA, said that the detention of women in Afghanistan “carries enormous stigma, which can put women at risk of further violence and isolation in their families and communities even after they are released.”
She said authorities were “obliged under international law to uphold the rights of all Afghans to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, liberty and security of person, and freedom from arbitrary detention.”
FILE - An Afghan woman walks out of a cell inside the women's section of the Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Retired Air Force Lt. Col. David Flippo has won the Republican primary in Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District after securing President Donald Trump’s endorsement in the closing weeks of the campaign.
The race, which was called Wednesday, put Trump opposite Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo and retiring Rep. Mark Amodei, who both backed former state Sen. James Settelmeyer. Amodei announced he was retiring after 15 years, opening up a competitive primary for Nevada’s only Republican-held House seat.
Flippo said he will fight “relentlessly” for secure borders, American energy, tax cuts, national defense and “the America First agenda our country needs.”
“Nevada deserves a fighter, and that’s exactly what I will deliver,” he said in a statement.
Democrats had hoped for a Flippo victory, thinking it would make it easier for them to win over less partisan voters in November in the conservative-leaning district. They nominated the chief of staff to state Attorney General Aaron Ford, former majority floor leader Teresa Benitez-Thompson. She did not immediately return requests for comment.
Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno said the party will highlight the differences between Flippo and Benitez-Thompson. She noted Flippo’s recent move to Northern Nevada and Benitez-Thompson’s long record in the region.
“NV Dems will spend every day between now and November making sure Nevada voters know how clear that choice is,” Monroe-Moreno said in a statement.
The 2nd District race is one of several Nevada contests that will be watched closely this year. In southern Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Susie Lee will face Marty O’Donnell, a composer known for writing the soundtrack to the video game “Halo.”
Trump won the 3rd district in 2024 and backed O’Donnell, who thanked Trump in his victory statement.
Tuesday’s primary also set the general election contest for governor, with Ford defeating a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary and moving on to face Gov. Lombardo. The incumbent, a former Clark County sheriff, is running on his record of public safety and job creation while pledging to work on housing affordability in a second term.
Ford is tying Lombardo to Trump in placing blame for soaring prices across the state and has pledged to lower costs for families. He would be the state’s first Black governor if elected in November.
In other races for statewide offices, Republican primaries for attorney general and secretary of state included several candidates who had pushed election conspiracy theories or been skeptical of election operations. Adriana Guzmán Fralick, who has expressed concerns about voting security, won the GOP nomination for attorney general and will face Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro.
The Republican primary for secretary of state, the office that oversees elections, included Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who has said the 2020 election “ was probably stolen,” and Sharron Angle, a former state lawmaker who was part of an effort to block the certification of Nevada’s 2020 election results. Another candidate who was competitive in the race, Shirley Folkins-Roberts, is an attorney who has denied that there is widespread voting fraud in Nevada.
In the 2nd District race, Flippo said he understands issues important to the region, including mining, water rights and fuel prices. He sought to turn Settelmeyer’s long political record into a liability, pointing to votes he said did not match conservative values.
He moved to the district this election cycle after losing a race in southern Nevada in 2024. The 2nd District covers all northern Nevada. It mostly rural but includes the major battleground county of Washoe, home to Reno.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, center, poses with supporters outside a vote center Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Gubernatorial candidate Aaron Ford, attorney general of Nevada, speaks during a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic nomination Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
David Flippo, a Republican candidate for Congress in Nevada's 2nd district, speaks during a primary election night watch party Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/William Hale Irwin)
