Dozens of girls protested in an eastern Afghan town on Saturday after Taliban authorities closed their secondary schools just days after classes resumed, an activist and local residents said.
Last week, five state secondary schools in eastern Paktia province resumed classes after hundreds of girls and tribal leaders called for their reopening.
But when students in the provincial capital Gardez went to class on Saturday, they were told to return home, a women’s rights activist and local residents said.
“This morning when they didn’t let the girls go to school, we protested,” said activist Yasmin, an organizer of the rally.
In their school uniforms – a white headscarf and black shalwar kameez – the girls marched through the center of Gardez to protest the closure.
Four of the newly opened schools are in Gardez and one in Samkani.
The Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on girls and women since returning to power in August last year to conform to their austere vision of Islam – effectively edging them out of public life.
In March, they closed all secondary schools for girls after reopening them for the first time under their rule.
Pictures posted to social media on Saturday showed the girls marching through downtown while residents and shopkeepers looked on.
“The Taliban did not allow anyone to film the protests. In fact, they broke some protesters’ mobile phones,” Yasmin told AFP by phone.
Two residents of the city also confirmed the protest, which journalists were not allowed to report on.
“The students protested peacefully, but the rally was soon dispersed by security forces,” a Gardez resident, who asked not to be named, told AFP.
Officials claim the ban is just a “technical issue” and classes will resume once a curriculum based on Islamic rules is finalized.
Some public schools continue to operate in parts of the country under pressure from local leaders and families.
However, they remain closed in most provinces, including the capital Kabul and Kandahar, the Taliban’s de facto powerhouse.
According to UNICEF, around three million girls in Afghanistan are currently unable to attend secondary school.
