to put away their cameras. it s getting a little tense over there. reporter: senior talib rips a phone out of one woman s hands. his men shove journalists back. we try to keep filming but the taliban don t want the world to see. they re ripping the women s posters. no, put it away, put it away. a machine gun burst sends a clear message. the protest is over. he is the head of the taliban s intelligence services in kabul and that the women did not have permission to protest. reporter: why does a small group of women asking for their right to be educated threaten you so much? i respect women s rights, i respect human rights, he says. if i didn t respect women, you wouldn t be standing here. would you have given them permission if they had asked for one?
he is the head of the taliban s intelligence services in kabul and the women did not have permission to protest. why does a small group of women asking for their right to be educated threaten you so much? i respect women s rights. i respect human rights, he says. if i didn t respect women, you wouldn t be standing here. reporter: would you have given them permission if they asked for it? yes, of course, he says. we would have. but permissions are illusive and previous protests have met a similar fate. on the streets, the consequences of one recent demonstration can still be seen. at almost every beauty salon, images of women s faces have been defaced as if to erase them from public life completely. the women inside this salon are too scared to appear on camera.