Taliban reopen universities for Afghan women in 2 provinces

The Taliban say they have reopened public universities for women students in two of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, a move marking a major concession to international demands by the country’s new rulers.

Since they swept into power in mid-August, the international community has watched to see whether the Taliban will impose the same harsh measures as during their 1990s rule of Afghanistan, including banning girls from education and women from the workplace and public life.

The Taliban have imposed several restrictions, many of them on women, since their takeover — women have been banned from many jobs outside the health and teaching sector, and girls have not been able to go to school after grade six. The Taliban demand women wear headscarves but have stopped short of imposing the burqa, the head-to-toe covering that was compulsory under their previous rule.

The Taliban-run culture and information ministry says that public universities in the provinces of Nangarhar and Kandahar are now open for women in what it describes as a staggered process expected to see all students — men and women — eventually return to university.