Taliban Detains 5 Female Demonstrators & 3 Journalists in Kabul

The statement added that the Taliban's oppressive measures against Afghan girls and women have been relentless and systemic.

Making it clear that such decrees will isolate the Taliban further, they urged the group to abandon the new oppressive measures with respect to university education for women and girls and reverse the existing decision to prohibit girls' access to secondary school.

The joint statement had been issued by foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the High Representative of the European Union.

They emphasised that the Taliban has been clearly disregarding the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Afghans as they have issued over 16 decrees and edicts, which constrain women's mobility, remove women from places of work, require head-to-toe coverings for women and even ban women from using public spaces.

The statement stressed that the signatories stand with all Afghans in their demand to exercise their human rights consistent with Afghanistan's obligations under international law.

The Taliban local officials have told the managers that the closure of all educational institutions is based on a decree of Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader.

Sardar Wali Mohammadi, the Taliban commander in charge of district 6 of Kabul, said in the audio message that until the next decree of the Taliban leader, girls' schools including all tuition courses, universities, and educational centers will remain closed.

He urged the religious scholars, Imams, teachers, and school principals, to abide by the Taliban leader’s decree.

Meanwhile, the Taliban officials in district 6 of Kabul have held a meeting with Imams, elders, teachers, and managers of schools and other educational centers and have asked them to prevent the participation of girls in these institutions until further notice.

The Taliban had previously barred girls from education in secondary and high schools. The group announced on Tuesday that girls’ education in universities has been suspended until further notice.

Sources told Afghanistan International that on Wednesday, the Taliban visited schools across the city and ordered principles to prevent girls’ entrance the schools and other educational centers.

The senior EU official added that gender persecution is a crime against humanity.

The Taliban announced on Tuesday, that girls are not allowed to enter universities across Afghanistan until further notice.

In more than a year’s reign in Afghanistan, this is the second act of the Taliban to deprive Afghan girls of education. Previously, the Taliban had barred secondary and higher school education for Afghan girls.

The Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan girls from attending universities and seek higher education has been met with widespread condemnation.

A video published on social media shows that many male and female students protested on the university campus in eastern Nangarhar province.

The Taliban Ministry of Higher Education announced on Tuesday that female students should not be allowed in public and private universities across Afghanistan until further notice.

After the decision on Wednesday, several women and girls held a street rally in Kabul. These women, who had gathered in front of Kabul University and a private university, said that the Taliban prevented their demonstration and also confiscated their mobile phones.

Among other reactions, the Chargé d'Affaires of the US embassy for Afghanistan has addressed Afghan men and asked them to stand by Afghan women

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.