Founder of Afghan girls’ school project arrested in Kabul

KABUL: The founder of a project that campaigned for girls´ education in Afghanistan has been detained by Taliban authorities in Kabul, his brothers and the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The Taliban government barred girls from attending secondary school and then university last year, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to issue such restrictions on education. Matiullah Wesa, the head of PenPath, was stopped by men outside a mosque after prayers on Monday evening, his brother Samiullah Wesa told AFP.

“When Matiullah asked for their identity cards, they beat him and forcefully took him away,” he said. “He has been arrested for his activities in the education sector. He never worked with anybody else, neither with the previous government. He only worked for PenPath.”

The UN mission in Afghanistan confirmed on Twitter that Matiullah had been arrested. Taliban officials have so far not responded to requests for comment. Samiullah Wesa and another brother, Wali Mohammad, were also arrested later on Tuesday, a fourth brother, Attaullah Wesa, said in a video statement posted on Twitter.

They were “caught, handcuffed and taken away”, Attaullah Wesa said. “We condemn this horrific act, this unlawful act ... We are people of the pen ... we are not going to compromise in our fight,” he said, adding that authorities were also looking for him.

PenPath campaigns for schools and distributes books in rural areas. It has long dedicated itself to communicating the importance of girls´ education to elders in villages, where attitudes have been slowly changing. Since the ban on secondary schools for girls, Matiullah Wesa has continued visiting remote areas to drum up support from locals.