Taliban response to Afghan protests increasingly violent, UN says

The U.N. rights office on Friday said that the Taliban response to peaceful marches in Afghanistan has been increasingly violent, with authorities using live ammunition, batons, and whips that have resulted in at least four protester deaths.

Ravina Shamdasani, U.N. rights spokesperson, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that it had received reports of house-to-house searches for those who participated in the protests. Journalists have also faced intimidation and one of those who were beaten in custody was verbally threatened with beheading, she added.