Afghan Students Hold Demonstration After Taliban Bans University Education for Girls

US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price called education an “internationally recognised human right” and warned that the Taliban’s “unacceptable stance” will have consequences for them and further isolate the group from the international community. “The United States condemns, in the strongest terms, the Taliban’s indefensible decision to ban women from universities, to keep secondary schools closed to girls, and to continue to impose other restrictions on the ability of women and girls in Afghanistan to exercise their human rights and their fundamental freedoms,” Ned Price said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted, “Deeply dismayed by the announcement from the Taliban denying women the right to university education. Afghan women deserve better. Afghanistan deserves better. The Taliban have just definitively set back their objective of being accepted by the international community.”

A letter issued to all government and private universities by the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education ordered the suspension of higher education for female students in Afghanistan.

US Special Envoy Rina Amiri tweeted against the Taliban’s decision, “The Taliban’s banning of girls and women from secondary schools and universities and the 16+ edicts targeting women and girls removes any doubt that they’re reverting to the extreme policies of the 90s, crushing 50% of the population and Afghanistan’s prospects for stability.”

U.S. Special Representative Thomas West also condemned the decision and said, “Taliban announced new and indefensible restrictions on the lives of Afghan women. My thoughts are with them right now: Sisters, daughters, mothers seeking education to support their families and fulfill their dreams.

Even, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has expressed concern about the suspension of girls' education by Taliban in Afghanistan. Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson of the organisation's Secretary General, in a statement said that Guterres once again emphasised that denying girls the right to education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls, but will also have a destructive effect on the future of Afghanistan.

Guterres has asked the Taliban to guarantee equal access to education at all levels for women and girls.

A delegation from Pakistan traveled to Kandahar on Monday to discuss the two border skirmishes between Taliban and Pakistani forces.

The Taliban governor's office in Kandahar said in a statement that on Monday afternoon, the group's officials met the Pakistani delegation. "We always want to solve the problem through dialogue, and our forces have acted to defend their territory,” it added.

According to the statement, the Pakistani side also sought to avoid border tensions and resolve the conflict through dialogue.

The fighting at the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing started last week after the Taliban tried to establish a new security outpost in the border area.

In the two clashes on December 11 and 15, at least nine Pakistani civilians had been killed and 45 others had been injured. The Taliban also said that one member of the group had been killed and a number of civilians had been wounded.

During his end of the year press conference, the UN Secretary General added that the UN is actively engaged in discussions with the Taliban in this regard.

The Secretary General also touched upon the topic of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and said, “There are several clear things that we believe the Taliban must deliver from the point of view of the interests of the international community and from the point of view of the interests of Afghanistan itself.”

He added that the Taliban must deliver in relation to the inclusion in the power structures in Afghanistan and include all ethnic groups.

On the topic of women’s rights, Guterres stated that there should be no discrimination with respect to human rights in the country. “Particularly, women and girls' rights, the right of women to work, the right of girls to attend school should be upheld,” he said.

Today, the United Nations is set to discuss Afghanistan and the UN Secretary General’s report on the country under the Taliban regime.

Despite bringing the fire in the Salang pass under control, the Taliban officials said that the highway remains closed to traffic.

Taliban spokesperson for the ministry of public health, Sharaft Zaman Amarkhail added that the medical teams of the group are present at the scene of the incident.

On Saturday, a fuel tanker was engulfed in flames and the fire continued until Sunday. As per the Taliban officials, another fire occurred when a damaged vehicle inside the tunnel exploded due to the first fire.

Some sources said that the second fire had casualties, but the exact number has not been announced.

The two recent border skirmishes have left at least 10 dead and 45 wounded.

Earlier, Pakistani media had reported that a delegation of four Pakistani religious scholars will visit Kabul and Kandahar to discuss the recent border skirmish with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, the group's defense minister.

Islamabad had announced that at least nine Pakistani civilians had been killed and 45 have been injured in two separate border incidents at the Spin Boldak-Chaman crossing, last week.

The Taliban had also announced that a member of this group had been killed, and a number of civilians had been injured in the border clashes.

Taliban and Pakistani forces engaged in gunfight on December 11 and 15 in Spin Boldak border areas.