ISLAMABAD: Taliban authorities Saturday shut down girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktia province, according to witnesses and social media posts. The schools had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals.
Earlier this month, four girls schools above grade 6 in Gardez, the provincial capital, and one in the Samkani district began operating without formal permission from the Taliban Education Ministry.
On Saturday, all five schools were once again closed by the Taliban.
Dozens of tearful former students — some in head-to-toe burqas, others in school uniforms and white vails — protested Saturday in the streets of Gardez, according to social media posts.
Mohammad Sediq, a resident of Gardez, said he had been happy that his two sisters could go to school, but the Taliban disappointed him by closing the girls schools.
Taliban government spokespersons and Education Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.
A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. Hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government, which imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary.
Former president Hamid Karzai in a series of tweets on World Literacy Day on Thursday, encouraged respected clerics, elders and influential Afghans to “encourage the education of our children, both boys and girls, as much as possible,”
Last week, Khaliqyar Ahmadzai, head of information and culture in Paktia, told local media that schools for female students above grade 6 had been reopened in the province.
“The decision was made by local school leadership and not based on an official order,” he said.
Since taking power, the Taliban have struggled to govern and remain internationally isolated. An economic downturn has driven millions more Afghans into poverty and hunger as the flow of foreign aid has slowed to a trickle.
Taliban close girls schools in east that had briefly opened
https://arab.news/cmg4s
Taliban close girls schools in east that had briefly opened
France to open consulate in Greenland in February
- The comments came on the day that Denmark’s top diplomat is to meet senior US officials at the White House for talks over Greenland
PARIS: France will open a consulate in Greenland on February 6, the foreign minister said Wednesday, calling the move a “political signal” over the strategic Danish territory, which US President Donald Trump has vowed to seize.
The comments came on the day that Denmark’s top diplomat is to meet senior US officials at the White House for talks over the future of vast, mineral-rich Arctic island.
Since returning to office nearly a year ago, Trump has repeatedly mused about taking over Greenland from longtime ally and European Union member Denmark.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French RTL broadcaster that the decision to open the consulate was taken last summer, when President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in a show of support.
“For my part, I went there at the end of August to plan the consulate, which will open on February 6,” he said.
“It’s a political signal that’s associated with a desire to be more present in Greenland, including in the scientific field.”
“Greenland does not want to be owned, governed... or integrated into the United States. Greenland has made the choice of Denmark, NATO, (European) Union,” he said.
Greenland’s leader has said that the island would choose to remain an autonomous territory of Denmark over the United States.
Trump has said the United States needs Greenland due to the threat of a takeover by Russia or China.
The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, where the United States has long had a military base.
