India, June 10 -- Several people were injured in the city of Herat after Taliban security personnel reportedly opened fire to disperse a small protest organized in support of Afghan women arrested for dress code violations.

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan cracked down on a protest over women's dress code violations on Tuesday, with multiple witnesses reporting shots being fired.

Between 100 and 150 Afghan men had reportedly gathered in the western city of Herat to show their solidarity with more than a dozen women who had been arrested last week for going out in public without a full chador cloak or face-covering burqa.

But security forces dispersed the protest using "sticks, whips and firearms," one witness told the AFP news agency...