Taliban special forces bring abrupt end to women’s protest

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air, bringing an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers. The women’s march Saturday, the second in as many days in Kabul, began peacefully. Demonstrators laid a wreath outside Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry to honor former Afghan army personnel who died fighting the Taliban before marching on to the presidential palace. Also on Saturday, the chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, which has an outsized influence on the Taliban, made a surprise visit to Kabul.