Afghan girls cry upon learning they are not allowed to go to school after all

On Wednesday morning, girls in Afghanistan woke up believing they were once again allowed to attend school for the first time since the Taliban took power of the country.

But, their hopes were dashed as the group went back on its promise and reinstated the ban on girls’ secondary school education, claiming it will continue over an issue with uniforms.

Just over 7 months since the Taliban took control of the country in August last year, girls over the age of 12 have been forbidden from attending school.

On Monday, a statement assured teenage girls would be allowed to start attending secondary school again.

But, the last-minute U-turn from the Taliban came after many girls had already made their way to schools for the first time again. The devastating news was met with tears from some.

BBC journalist Yalda Hakim posted footage on Twitter appearing to show Afghan girls crying when they discovered the Taliban had gone back on its promise.

She wrote: “Afghan girls crying after discovering the ban on their education continues. The Taliban had promised they would be able to return to their schools today.

“A broken promise. Cruel to put these teenage girls through this #LetAfghanGirlsLearn.”

The Taliban claimed in a statement that the issue of girls returning to school was to do with uniforms and ensuring they are made in accordance with Sharia law, and said a decision on uniforms is still to be reached.

The scenes were described as “heartbreaking” as many girls had their dreams dashed.

One person wrote: “This is heartbreaking. Afghan girls of grade 6 and up were not allowed to enter their schools in Afghanistan today after the Taliban regime made a u-turn of their promise to let them go to school.

“It has been 187 days since the Taliban banned girls of grade 6 and up from school.”

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Another said: “Heartbreaking. Taliban should immediately open girl schools. It’s their fundamental right.”

Someone else added: “This is so sad. An education is a basic human right.”

One wrote: “So heartbroken about this! Taliban promised 2 days ago that all will return to school after 6 months of the ban on girls and now they are breaking their promise again.”

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