Taliban shuts down Afghanistan schools again after reopening

Recall that schools in Afghanistan have been asked to reopen and girls to resume back to school after 7 months. However the Taliban has ordered secondary girls’ schools in Afghanistan to shut down again on Wednesday just hours after they reopened, an official confirmed, sparking confusion over the policy reversal by the hardline Islamist group.

Taliban spokesman Inamullah Samangani confirmed. He said, “Yes, it’s true,”  when asked to confirm reports that girls had been ordered home.

The Taliban had insisted they wanted to ensure schools for girls aged 12 to 19 were segregated and would operate according to Islamic principles.

An AFP team was filming at Zarghona High School in the capital Kabul when a teacher entered and ordered everyone to go home.

Crestfallen students, back in class for the first time since the Taliban seized power in August last year, tearfully packed up their belongings and filed out.

It is common for Afghan pupils to miss chunks of the school year as a result of poverty or conflict, and some continue lessons well into their late teens or early twenties.