UN chief slams Taliban's suspension of girls' education

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The Taliban's decision to suspend schooling for girls beyond the sixth grade is "deeply damaging" for Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday.

The decision came as Afghanistan's educational institutions re-opened Wednesday with girls who were to begin education beyond the sixth grade told by the Taliban to remain home.

"The de facto authorities’ failure to reopen schools for girls above the sixth grade, despite repeated commitments, is a profound disappointment and deeply damaging for Afghanistan," Guterres said in a statement.

"The denial of education not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education, it also jeopardizes the country’s future in view of the tremendous contributions by Afghan women and girls," he added.

The Taliban returned to power after 20 years of war, ultimately ousting by force the internationally-recognized government as NATO-led forces that supported it withdrew.

The decision to curtail girls' education comes a little more than one week before a major international donor conference, which the UN had hoped would lead to hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid being pledged.