- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Top Hezbollah commander 'killed' in Israel strike
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
- From TikTok to Hollywood, the irresistible rise of Italy's Khaby Lame
- Verstappen punished for swearing in Singapore press conference
- Sri Lanka lead by 202 in first New Zealand Test
- Brook 'not too fussed' by England's batting in heavy Australia loss
- India's Ashwin 'happy' to embrace pressure
- A modern 'Trojan Horse': two days of mayhem in Lebanon
- Third of Burundi mpox cases in children under five: UN
- Man Utd appoint Foster + Partners to develop Old Trafford 'masterplan'
- Israel-Hezbollah exchanges intensify on Lebanon border
- French mayor sorry for 'no one died' remark over mass rape trial
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, outsider shunned by British high society
- Lawyers say 'monster' late Harrods owner abused dozens of women
- India in box seat after Bumrah takes four against Bangladesh
- Taiwan retains death penalty but limits use to 'exceptional' cases
- Ferrari's Leclerc sets early pace in Singapore ahead of Norris
- 10 years into Huthi rule, some Yemenis count the cost
- France poised to finally get new govt
- Kompany, Alonso call for action on player workload amid strike talks
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson doubtful for Bournemouth clash
- Bumrah takes four as India bowl out Bangladesh for 149
- Sri Lanka 134-1 to take upper hand in first New Zealand Test
- Bayern's Kompany calls for game cap for players amid strike talks
- Christie's expands Hong Kong footprint in hope of art market 'pickup'
- Sultry screen legend Sophia Loren turns 90
- Cambodian opposition figure in court on incitement charge
- Bumrah takes three wickets to have Bangladesh in trouble at 112-8
- Kimchi threat as heatwave drives up South Korea cabbage prices
- UK economic data delivers fresh blow to new govt
- China to 'gradually resume' seafood imports from Japan after Fukushima ban
- India minister blames dam release for flooding
- O'Rourke strikes early for Kiwis as Sri Lanka trail by three
- Deep takes two as Bangladesh totter in reply to India's 376
- Israel pounds Lebanon's Hezbollah after device blasts
- Revolution or mirage? Controversy surrounds new Alzheimer's drugs
- Ashwin's 113 powers India to 376 in Bangladesh Test
- Biden opens home to 'Quad' leaders for farewell summit
- Sally Rooney returns with 30-something questions
- Wallabies sense 'massive' chance to upset All Blacks
- Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers
CMSC | -0.12% | 25.09 | $ | |
BCE | -0.74% | 34.93 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.08% | 25.03 | $ | |
SCS | -2.94% | 12.93 | $ | |
JRI | -0.37% | 13.35 | $ | |
BCC | -0.85% | 143.473 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
NGG | 0.83% | 69.405 | $ | |
RIO | -1.42% | 64.265 | $ | |
GSK | -1.17% | 41.14 | $ | |
RELX | -0.08% | 48.09 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.14% | 6.96 | $ | |
VOD | -0.31% | 10.029 | $ | |
AZN | -0.48% | 78.52 | $ | |
BTI | -0.24% | 37.48 | $ | |
BP | -0.44% | 32.615 | $ |
Girls' education ban reveals deep rifts within Taliban
The Taliban prohibition on girls' education shows the movement's ultra-conservatives retain tight control of the Islamist group, and exposes a power struggle that puts at risk crucial aid for Afghanistan's desperate population, experts say.
The ban has triggered international outrage and even left many in the Taliban movement baffled by the decision.
"The order was devastating," a senior Taliban member told AFP. "The supreme leader himself interfered."
All Taliban officials who spoke to AFP on the subject did so on condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Secondary schools for girls were ordered to shut last month, just hours after being reopened for the first time since the Taliban's return to power in August.
The shocking U-turn came after a secret meeting of the group's leadership in the city of Kandahar, the Taliban's de facto power centre.
Officials have never justified the ban, apart from saying the education of girls must be according to "Islamic principles"
But one senior Taliban official told AFP that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and some other senior figures were "ultra-conservative on this issue" and dominated the discussion.
Two groups -- the urban and the ultra-conservatives -- have emerged in the movement, he said.
"The ultra-conservatives have won this round," he added, referring to a group of clerics including Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Sharai, Minister for Religious Affairs Noor Mohammad Saqeb and Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi.
- Reimposing Kandahar's influence -
The clerics feel excluded from government decisions and voicing their opposition to girls' education is one way to restore their influence, said Ashley Jackson, a London-based researcher who has worked extensively on Afghanistan.
She told AFP the "outsized influence of this out-of-touch minority" has prevented the country from moving ahead with something the vast majority of Afghans favour -- including much of the leadership.
"It shows that Kandahar remains the centre of gravity for Taliban politics," said International Crisis Group analyst Graeme Smith.
A senior Taliban member said the hardliners were trying to appease thousands of fighters who hail from the deeply conservative countryside.
"For them, even if a woman steps out of her home it is immoral. So, imagine what it means to educate her," he said.
The Taliban member said Akhundzada was against "modern, secular education" as he associated it with life under former Western-backed presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.
"That's his worldview."
The Taliban returned to power last year as US-led forces ended an occupation in place since an invasion ousted the hardliners in 2001.
In the 20 years between the Taliban's two reigns, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though the country remained socially conservative.
Activist and Islamic scholar Tafsir Siyaposh noted girls in Afghanistan have always studied in single-sex classes and followed an Islamic curriculum, so the ban shows the Taliban just wanted to "oppress the rights of women by giving excuses".
- Blow to foreign aid -
A Taliban source in Pakistan confirmed differences at the leadership level on the issue, but said the movement was in no danger of fragmenting.
"There is a debate on this issue ... but we are trying to overcome our shortcomings," he said.
Still, analysts say the ban was a blow to Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and to raise aid to address Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis.
Jackson said neither Akhundzada nor those closest to him "fully understood or appreciated" the consequences of their edict for an international community that has linked official recognition to the group's respect for women's rights.
Even some senior Taliban officials agree.
"We are telling them (the ultra-conservatives) that running a country is different from running a madrassa," said one Taliban official from Kandahar, using the term for an Islamic school.
"Everything was going smooth until this harsh order came. And it came from our leader so we have to follow it -- but we are trying to change it," he said.
The ban reduces the willingness of governments to cooperate with the Taliban said the ICG's Smith.
"It raises the question of who exactly they should speak with inside the Taliban."
P.Anderson--BTB