25th May, 2018
Taliban militants in an act of retaliation have closed down 27 primary and secondary schools in the northern province of Takhar, affecting thousands of students, officials said.
The head of the Department of Education for Takhar, Samad Abdyar, said the schools were shut down by the Taliban across four districts this week, affecting over 11,000 students.
The move came after the Afghan spy agency, National Directorate of Security captured the militants’ education chief for Takhar.
The Taliban have shadow administrations in many provinces. Education is a main focus for them.
Similar reports in recent weeks came from Logar where the Taliban shut down around 30 schools after a high-ranking commander was killed by security forces and from Kunduz where nearly half of the province’s 500 schools is said not to be functional at the moment.
However, the government, too, has been closing schools.
After fierce fighting in the capital of western Farah province, Farah City, the Ministry of Education just one week ago closed 411 educational facilities depriving around 140,000 students of education.
The closures that are supposed to last for a month until the end of the holy month of Ramadan in mid-June are supposed to protect students and staff, officials said.
Already by April, around 1,000 schools were closed due to conflict, according to the Ministry of Education.