Top official urges Taliban reopen girls' schools in Afghaninstan

The Taliban's acting deputy foreign minister has urged senior leaders to reopen schools for Afghan girls, marking one of the strongest public critiques of a policy that has deepened the regime's international isolation.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, who previously headed negotiations at the Taliban's Doha political office before the US withdrawal in 2021, condemned restrictions on girls' and women's education as inconsistent with Islamic Sharia law.

"We request the leaders of the Islamic Emirate to open the doors of education," Stanekzai said in a weekend speech, as reported by local broadcaster Tolo, referring to the Taliban's official designation for their government.

"In the time of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the doors of knowledge were open to both men and women," he said.

"Today, out of a population of forty million, we are committing injustice against twenty million people," he added, referring to the female population of Afghanistan.

The comments were among the strongest public criticism in recent years by a Taliban official of the school closures, which Taliban sources and diplomats have previously told Reuters were put in place by the supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada despite some internal disagreement.

The Taliban have said they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture.

They made a sharp u-turn on promises to open high schools for girls in 2022, and have since said they were working on a plan for the schools to re-open but have not given any timeline. They closed universities to female students at the end of 2022.

The policies have been widely criticised internationally, including by Islamic scholars, and Western diplomats have said any path towards formal recognition of the Taliban is blocked until there is a change on their policies towards women.

A Taliban administration spokesman in the southern city of Kandahar where Haibatullah is based did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Stanekzai's remarks.