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Taliban fighters in Kabul fired warning shots and beat protesters demonstrating against the militant group on Tuesday, as unrest broke out in cities across the country.
Eyewitnesses in Kabul told The National that several women were injured after taking part in the protests.
“They shot at us and beat protesters. They beat the people taking the videos and even the journalists,” said one of the protesters, who said his name was Haider.
Several women were among those injured in the clashes, he added.
“I don’t know how many were injured but I saw women who were bleeding,” he said.
“One woman took off her headscarf to use it to stop the bleeding of another protester and was also beaten by a Taliban fighter who called her immodest,” he said.
Afghan news channel Tolo News reported that one of its video journalists, Waheed Ahmadi, was detained by Taliban fighters while covering Tuesday’s protests in the capital.
“Our colleague Waheed Ahmadi, who has covered many frontlines over the years, is arrested by the Taliban in Kabul for filming an Afghan women's protest. I call on the Taliban to release our colleague asap,” Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of Tolo news, said on social media.
The mass protests erupted in Balkh, Daikundi and Bamyan provinces late on Monday and continued into Tuesday.
Afghans at the rallies chanted anti-Taliban as well as anti-Pakistan slogans, demanding the withdrawal of Pakistani intelligence officials who arrived in Kabul on Saturday.
Chants of “death to Pakistan” and “Azadi [freedom]” echoed across central and west Kabul on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies have often been accused of sheltering and supporting the Taliban.
Many Afghans saw the arrival in Kabul of Faiz Hamid, the head of Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, at a time when the Taliban was struggling to form a government, as proof of Pakistan’s involvement in Afghanistan’s conflict.
In a video shared with The National by one woman protesting against the Taliban, she shouts:
“We are not here to ask for a job or even the right to work. We are here to fend the blood of our youth. We are here to defend our country from Pakistan. Why is Pakistan interfering? Why has their chief of ISI been here for six nights. Why are they in my land?”
Taliban would like to believe that the foreigners took the freedoms and rights with them, but they did not – those values are our own, and they live within us
Haider
Other women The National spoke to voiced similar anger.
Masouma, 20, said: “All we want is freedom. It is our inalienable right.
“How is it that in just a matter of days, I can no longer write what I want, or listen to music or walk the streets of my Kabul? My whole future was snatched away.”
'The future that was once so bright, now seems so dark'
For some protesters, it was worth risking Taliban reprisals to stand up for their rights.
Haider, in Kabul, said he was protesting because being “silent is a constant death. It is better to embrace death once while raising our voices, but we can’t keep dying over and again by staying quiet against injustice”.
Most of those taking to the streets, he said, were younger than 30.
“This is the generation that was betrayed and abandoned by their international allies. The Taliban would like to believe that the foreigners took the freedoms and rights with them, but they did not — those values are our own, and they live within us,” he said.
After seeing Taliban fighters filming the protests and photographing some of the demonstrators, Haider said he feared there will be retribution.
“I realise that they will use these to come after us later. But we can’t remain silent either,” he said, as he left to join another protest in a different part of the city.
Masouma said she and her fellow protesters supported the resistance in Panjshir — the last bastion fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“I can relate to the resistance in Panjshir because they are also fighting for freedom. One of the conditions their movement seeks is equal rights for women,” she said.
Many of Masouma’s friends were forced to flee the country as the Taliban took over.
But she stayed behind, hoping to make a difference.
“I wanted to pursue my further study in counter-terrorism and extremist groups, and now we are surrounded and suppressed by them. The future that was once so bright, now seems so dark,” she said.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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