Taliban fighters used whips and sticks against a group of women protesting in Kabul following the announcement of a hardline, male-only interim government, in the group's latest crackdown on dissent in Afghanistan.
Videos and images received by CNN show the women chanting, "Long live the women of Afghanistan."
Some held placards declaring "No government can deny the presence of women" and "I will sing freedom over and over." Others held placards with the image of a pregnant police officer who was killed in Ghor province a few days ago.
The Taliban told CNN they were not involved in her death, but have subsequently launched an investigation.
Women in hijabs joined protests in Kabul on Tuesday, the largest since the militant group seized power last month.
A small group of women demonstrators also took to the streets of the Afghan capital over the weekend to demand equal rights, one of at least three small protests across the country last week.
One woman at Wednesday's protest said: "We have gathered here to protest the recent announcement of the government where there are no women representation within this government."
A Taliban fighter stands guard in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan after the take-over.
Taliban soldiers walk towards Afghans shouting slogans during an anti-Pakistan demonstration, near the Pakistan embassy in Kabul.
According to photos and videos shared on social media, activists who marched on Tuesday shouted in support of resistance fighters in Panjshir and chanted against Pakistan, which they view as meddling in Afghan affairs.
Witnesses estimated the crowd at between 300 and 500 people - many of whom were women wearing the hijab. The Taliban responded with gunfire, detentions and beatings.
No women, members of religious minorities or members of Afghanistan's ousted leadership were selected for acting cabinet positions or named to advisory roles in the announcement of the interim government on this week.
This comes in spite of the Taliban's promises of an inclusive government and more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they were last in power two decades ago.
"We represent the whole of Afghanistan, and we talk on the level of the whole of Afghanistan and our struggle was based on the whole of Afghanistan. We are not people of one tribe or ethnicity, neither do we believe in this," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
At least 169 Afghans and 13 US troops were killed, Afghan and US officials said.
The Islamic State group's affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the attack. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz and condemned the attack.
People tend to a wounded person near the site of a deadly explosion outside the airport.
The US military reportedly deployed a specially adapted missile, known as the "Ninja bomb", to kill ISIS-K terrorists in retaliation for the group's deadly bombing of Kabul's airport.
The R9X missile was fired from a Reaper drone to kill two militants linked with the terrorist group in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Wounded Afghans lie on beds at a hospital after a deadly explosions outside the airport in Kabul.
The US said 13 troops were killed in the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.
The first Australian Defence Force evacuation flight departed Kabul with 26 persons on board.
The RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft departed from Townsville.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called on the Taliban to allow Australians to get to Kabul airport to leave the country.
"We do seek and urge the Taliban, all parties, to allow and assist with safe passage out of the country for those who are seeking to leave," Senator Payne said.
"It is very difficult, and continues to be very difficult, for people to get to the airport."
She said the government had been working closely with international partners, particularly the US.
Australian Defence Force personnel process the first evacuees from Kabul, Afghanistan at Australia's main base in the Middle East region.
Determining which Afghan nationals used to work for the Australian government or military is not a simple process, the Prime Minister has said.
Scott Morrison said many people at risk may not have worked for Australia recently, but perhaps four or five years ago.
"It isn't just a matter of people coming along and presenting a pay slip from the Australian government saying 'I used to work for you'," Mr Morrison said.
"I wish it were that simple."
Australian Defence Force personnel process the first evacuees from Kabul.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said most people Australia is looking to evacuate from Afghanistan are in Kabul, but not all.
Getting those people to the airport remains a challenge.
"Yesterday there were multiple kilometre long traffic queues outside the airport," Senator Payne said.
"At one point people were having to be lifted over gates into the airport."
The doors or the mammoth Australian Defence Force Aircraft.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia's immigration policy would not change for Afghans seeking to come to the country illegally.
"We will only be resettling people through our official humanitarian program going through official channels," he said.
"We will not be allowing people to enter Australia illegally, even at this time.
"Our policy has not changed."
He said Australia would be providing about 3000 visas to Afghans this year.
More Australian planes will be heading to Afghanistan in order to get people out of the country.
Another C130 and two C17s will join the existing C130 making regular flights in and out of Kabul.
"I can confirm that security situation at the airport has improved and more broadly across Kabul," Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said
"That is supported particularly by the presence of US and UK troops on the ground being able to take control of the airport."
He paid tribute to those flying the planes in and out of dangerous territory.
Evacuees on board the ADF aircraft on its way to the Middle East Base in Dubai, UAE.
"It's very difficult for any Australian to imagine the sense of chaos and uncertainty that is existing across this country, the breakdown in formal communications, the ability to reach people," Scott Morrison, said.
"This will be done in as orderly fashion as is possible in the circumstances," he said.
"We need to be very clear who is getting on our planes, who is going to our base and going to come here and live in Australia."
Getting to the airport in Kabul remains difficult and dangerous. This satellite photo provided by Planet Labs Inc. shows vehicles trying to reach the civilian side of Kabul International Airport, also known as Hamid Karzai International Airport.
US Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of US Central Command, on a plane evacuating people, at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan.
In this photo provided by the Spanish Defence Ministry and taken in Kabul, Afghanistan, people board a Spanish airforce A400 plane as part of an evacuation plan at Kabul airport.
In this image provided by the German Armed Forces, Bundeswehr, evacuees from Kabul sit inside a military aircraft as they arrive at Tashkent Airport in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
One of three German military planes evacuated 131 people from Kabul airport to the Uzbek capital of Tashkent before reaching their final destination in Germany.
In his first ever press conference, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressed concerns over the insurgents' ultraconservative Islamic views last time they were in power.
Mr Mujahid, who had been a shadowy figure for years, on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, promised the Taliban would honour women's rights, but within the norms of Islamic law, though he gave few details.