Taliban ban women from university education in Afghanistan
- Barring access to university education is the Taliban’s latest edict cracking down on women’s rights and freedoms
- The international community has urged Taliban leaders to reopen schools and give women their right to public space

Hundreds of young women were stopped by armed guards on Wednesday from entering Afghan university campuses, a day after the nation’s Taliban rulers banned them from higher education in another assault on human rights.
Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power last year, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives, ignoring international outrage.
A team of Agence France-Presse journalists saw groups of students gathered outside universities in the capital, Kabul, barred from entering by armed guards and shuttered gates.
Many, dressed in hijabs, were also seen standing in groups on roads leading to the campuses.
“We are doomed. We have lost everything,” said one student, who asked not to be identified.
Men students also expressed shock at the latest edict.