The security situation in Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. It is definitely not a safe place to travel. If anyone attempts to travel, including adventure or recreational in this volatile security environment, places, then you are at grave risk of abduction or even death.
To make things worse, the Taliban have now excluded girls from Afghan secondary schools. This means that only boys and male teachers are permitted into classrooms. Meanwhile, schoolgirls told the BBC they were absolutely shocked for not being allowed into classrooms. “Everything looks very dark,” one said.
Taliban officials who took control last month added that they were working to come to a firm conclusion on this matter. Meanwhile, many females believe that it is the return of the regime of the 1990s when the Taliban restricted girls’ and women’s rights.
Under their new government, Taliban officials added that the women will be permitted to study and work in accordance with the group’s interpretation of Islamic religious law. However, women who work have been instructed to stay at home until the security situation improves. Taliban fighters have beaten up women protesting against the all-male interim government.
A statement issued ahead of Afghan schools reopening on Saturday said: “All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions.” Secondary schools are usually for students aged between 13 and 18.
Meanwhile, in another development, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was later quoted by Afghanistan’s Bakhtar News Agency as adding that girls’ schools would open soon. Schoolgirls and their parents on Saturday echoed that prospects were bleak.
“I am so worried about my future,” said one Afghan schoolgirl, who hoped to be a lawyer. “Everything looks very dark. Every day I wake up and ask myself why I am alive? Should I stay at home and wait for someone to knock on the door and ask me to marry him? Is this the purpose of being a woman?”
Her father said: “My mother was illiterate, and my father constantly bullied her and called her an idiot. I didn’t want my daughter to become like my mum.” Another schoolgirl from Kabul expressed that it was a “sorrowful day”.
“I wanted to become a doctor! And that dream has vanished. I don’t think they would let us go back to school. Even if they open the high schools again, they don’t want women to become educated.”