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UNESCO: Taliban Have Deliberately Deprived 1.4 Million Afghan Girls of Schooling Through Bans

Afghan girls attend primary school as Afghanistan marks the second anniversary of the ban on girls going to secondary schools, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 18 September 2023. EPA/STRINGER
Afghan girls attend primary school as Afghanistan marks the second anniversary of the ban on girls going to secondary schools, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 18 September 2023. EPA/STRINGER
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UNESCO: Taliban Have Deliberately Deprived 1.4 Million Afghan Girls of Schooling Through Bans

Afghan girls attend primary school as Afghanistan marks the second anniversary of the ban on girls going to secondary schools, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 18 September 2023. EPA/STRINGER
Afghan girls attend primary school as Afghanistan marks the second anniversary of the ban on girls going to secondary schools, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 18 September 2023. EPA/STRINGER

The Taliban have deliberately deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, a UN agency said Thursday. Afghanistan is the only country in the world with bans on female secondary and higher education.
The Taliban, who took power in 2021, barred education for girls above sixth grade. They didn’t stop it for boys and show no sign of taking the steps needed to reopen classrooms and campuses for girls and women.
UNESCO said at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the takeover, an increase of 300,000 since its previous count in April 2023, with more girls reaching the age limit of 12 every year.
“If we add the girls who were already out of school before the bans were introduced, there are now almost 2.5 million girls in the country deprived of their right to education, representing 80% of Afghan school-age girls,” UNESCO said.
The Taliban could not be immediately reached for comment.
Access to primary education has also fallen since the Taliban took power in Aug. 2021, with 1.1 million fewer girls and boys attending school, according to UNESCO data.
The UN agency warned that authorities have “almost wiped out” two decades of steady progress for education in Afghanistan. “ The future of an entire generation is now in jeopardy,” it added.
It said Afghanistan had 5.7 million girls and boys in primary school in 2022, compared with 6.8 million in 2019. The enrollment drop was the result of the Taliban decision to bar female teachers from teaching boys, UNESCO said, but could also be explained by a lack of parental incentive to send their children to school in an increasingly tough economic environment.
“UNESCO is alarmed by the harmful consequences of this increasingly massive drop-out rate, which could lead to a rise in child labor and early marriage,” it said.
The Taliban Wednesday celebrated three years of rule at Bagram Air Base, but there was no mention of the country’s hardships or promises to help the struggling population.
Decades of conflict and instability have left millions of Afghans on the brink of hunger and starvation and unemployment is high.

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Zelenskyy Says Ukrainian Troops Have Taken Full Control of the Russian Town of Sudzha

A Ukrainian military vehicle driving past a destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 14, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
A Ukrainian military vehicle driving past a destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 14, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
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Zelenskyy Says Ukrainian Troops Have Taken Full Control of the Russian Town of Sudzha

A Ukrainian military vehicle driving past a destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 14, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
A Ukrainian military vehicle driving past a destroyed border crossing point with Russia, in the Sumy region, on August 14, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country's troops had taken full control of the Russian town of Sudzha, which would be the largest population center to fall under Ukraine's purview since the start of its cross-border incursion more than a week ago.

Although it only had a prewar population of around 5,000 people, Sudzha is the administrative center for the border area of Russia's Kursk region and is larger than any of the other small towns or settlements that Ukrainian forces have reportedly taken since the incursion began Aug. 6.

Sudzha holds a measuring station for Russian natural gas that flows through Ukrainian pipelines to Europe and accounts for about 3% of Europe’s imports. There was no immediate indication of any disruption to the gas flow through the town.

Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian military command office was being set up in Sudzha, which suggests Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term — or just signal Moscow that it might intend to do so. Zelenskyy didn't elaborate on what functions the office might handle, although he said earlier that Ukraine would be distributing humanitarian aid to the Sudzha residents in need.

Russia didn't immediately respond to Zelenskyy's statement, but its defense ministry said earlier Thursday that Russian forces had blocked Ukrainian attempts to take several other communities.

The surprise Ukrainian incursion has caused chaos in the Kursk region, causing the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and leading to the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv.

Although Russian military bloggers report that Russian reserves that were sent to the Kursk region have slowed Ukrainian advances, questions remain over whether the incursion might force Moscow to move troops from front-line positions in eastern Ukraine, where they've made slow but steady advances this year, to defend embattled Russian territory.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that Russia had withdrawn some forces, including infantry units, from Ukraine and was shifting them to Kursk, but that the US didn't know how many troops were involved.

However, a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to comment publicly said it doesn't appear the Russians have moved a sufficient number of armored battalions or other types of combat power from the front-line in Ukraine to the Kursk region and will need to shift more troops to repel Kyiv's forces.

Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian small mechanized groups have continued to probe Russian defenses. And satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Thursday show that a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian air bases damaged at least two hangars and other areas.

Images taken Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC show that two hangars at Borisoglebsk Air Base had been struck, with a field of debris around both. It was not immediately clear what purpose the hangars served. There also appeared to be potential damage to two fighter aircraft at the base.

Separately, at Savasleika Air Base, one burn mark could be seen just off the runway in images Wednesday, though there was no apparent damage to the fighter jets and other aircraft there.

Kursk acting Gov. Alexei Smirnov on Thursday ordered the evacuation of the Glushkovo region, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Sudzha. The order suggests that Ukrainian forces were gradually advancing toward the area.

At a facility receiving evacuees, Tatyana Anikeyeva told Russian state television about her ordeal fleeing from the fighting. “We were rushing from Sudzha. … We hid in the bushes. Volunteers were handing out water, food, bread to people on the go. The sound of the cannonade continued without any break. The house was shaking."

Evacuees milled around and waited in long lines for food and other supplies. One man stroked his pet dog and tried to comfort her, while saying that he felt nauseous and had no appetite.

Russia also declared a federal-level state of emergency in the Belgorod region, a day after a regional-level declaration was made for the area. The change in status suggests that officials believe the situation is worsening and hampering the region’s ability to deliver aid.

Under the upgraded declaration, residents who suffer severe health damage will be eligible to receive payments of up to 600,000 rubles ($6,600). Those who experience a loss of property are eligible for up to 150,000 rubles ($1,700), Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said.

Ukraine’s chief military officer, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said earlier this week that Ukrainian forces had taken 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the Kursk region, though his claim couldn't be independently verified. The contact lines in Kursk have remained fluid, allowing both sides to maneuver easily, unlike the static front line in eastern Ukraine where it has taken Russian forces months to achieve even incremental gains.

Russian officials have pushed back on Syrskyi's territorial claim.

“What’s happening in Kursk is the incursion of terrorist sabotage groups, so there is no front line as such,” Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told reporters Wednesday. “There is an incursion because there are forests that are very difficult to control.”

Polyansky called the incursion an “absolutely reckless and mad operation,” and said Ukraine's aim to force Russia to move its troops from eastern Ukraine is not happening because “we have enough troops there.”