A footnote to my piece this morning lamenting the general lack of reporting out of Afghanistan over the last couple days–in the Los Angeles Times, Tony Perry now has an article up reporting that:
Several hundred women, many holding aloft pictures of relatives killed by drug lords or Taliban militants, held a loud but nonviolent street protest today, demanding that President Hamid Karzai purge from his government anyone connected to corruption, war crimes or the Taliban.
… The unusual display of political activism by women comes as Karzai is under increasing pressure to remove from his cabinet anyone connected to rampant corruption, including links to the flourishing drug trade. His own finance minister says corruption is the biggest threat to the future of Afghanistan.
There’s also this nugget, which speaks to concern about civilian casualties:
Although it was not a major focus of the protest, the group was also critical of President Obama’s decision to send additional troops.
“The innocent and oppressed people will be the victims of American air and ground attacks,” said the group’s statement handed to Afghan and U.S. reporters.
The women’s protest seems not to have been reported yet by other major outlets; kudos to Perry for finding the story.
Greg Marx is an associate editor at CJR. Follow him on Twitter @gregamarx.