Dozens of Afghan girls rally against Taliban ban on education

A group of teenage girls took to the streets of the capital of Afghanistan’s Paktia province on Saturday to demand their right to an education, local media reported.

Footage from the TOLOnews broadcaster showed dozens of girls in school uniforms and some in veils marching on the street in the city of Gardez.

Paktia is a predominantly ethnically Pashtun province that is dominated by conservative tribal traditions. The province is also a stronghold of the Taliban’s deputy supreme leader and interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani.

“Why have you closed our schools? Why are you playing with our emotions?” one girl is heard saying through tears in one of the videos.

Last week, it was reported that local officials opened five secondary schools for female students at the request of tribal elders.

Since returning to power last year, the Taliban have banned girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade.

Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has said that the issue will be investigated, adding that only the Taliban’s education ministry has the authority to decide on such matters.