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Female university students were turned away the previous day
from campuses after the Taliban-run administration said on
Tuesday that women would be suspended from tertiary education.
According to witnesses, about 50 mainly female protestors
assembled while holding banners and chanted: "Education is our
right, universities should be opened."
The Taliban-led administration had already drawn criticism
including from foreign governments for not opening girls' high
schools at the start of the school year in March, making a
U-turn on signals it would do so.
The backlash towards restrictions on female education is
complicating the Taliban-led administration's efforts to gain
formal recognition and the lifting of sanctions that are
hampering the economy, diplomats say.
Large-scale protesting has become rare in Afghanistan since the
Taliban took over the country, as they are often shut down
forcefully by security agencies. The scattered protests that
have occurred are a sign of the discontent the Taliban's policy
has generated.
A heavy security presence has been present in the Afghan
capital, including at gatherings at universities, in recent
days.
A spokesperson for Afghanistan's higher education ministry said
its minister would hold a press conference on Thursday or Friday
to "to elaborate more on the closure of universities for women."
The previous day students in Nangahar University in eastern
Afghanistan also protested and male medical students walked out
of exams protest at their female classmates being excluded.
"The female students came and asked (the male students) not to
sit exams as we are not allowed to," said 25-year-old Zia, a
male medical student at Nangahar. "The male students
demonstrated courage and left the exam site."
(Reporting by Kabul Newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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