Protestors in Kabul demand education for girls

Approximately two dozen girls and women chanting “open the schools” protested in the Afghan capital, Kabul on Saturday against the Taliban’s decision to shut their secondary schools just hours after reopening them this week.

Thousands of girls across Afghanistan returned to high schools on March 23, the date the education ministry had set for classes to resume.

However, only hours into the first day, the ministry announced a policy reversal that left the youngsters saying they felt betrayed and foreign governments expressing outrage.

“Open the schools! Justice, justice!” chanted protesters Saturday, some carrying schoolbooks as they gathered at a city square in Kabul.

Protestors held banners that said: “Education is our fundamental right, not a political plan” as they marched for a short distance, before dispersing when Taliban fighters arrived at the scene.

The Taliban have not given a clear reason for their decision, which came after a meeting late Tuesday of senior officials in the southern city of Kandahar, the Islamist movement’s de facto power centre and spiritual heartland.

Afghan girls have now been out of education for more than seven months.