Reliefweb, October 31, 2016

300 Afghan schools destroyed in weeks as Taliban attack education

"The armed men entered the school at around 10pm, beat the guards and set chairs, books and classes ablaze"

Afghan men walk through the debris of their destroyed school in the village of Budyali, Nangarhar province, on March 19, 2013. Taliban militants attacked the nearby district headquarters in July 2011, then took refuge in the school. The Afghan National Army requested help from coalition forces, who responded with drones, fighter jets and rockets, leaving the school destroyed, according to village elders. (Photo: Sf.co.ua)

More than 300 schools in Afghanistan have been destroyed in the past two months - mainly by the Taliban as they wage war on education.

The latest attack was three days ago when armed men burst into a girls' school in northern Jawzjan province at night and beat up security guards.

They then burned down the school, which has about 500 students.

"The armed men entered the school at around 10pm, beat the guards and set chairs, books and classes ablaze," the provincial governor's spokesman Reza Ghafoori told the AFP news agency.

"They also warned that the girls should not be allowed in the school again."

Police blamed the assault on the Taliban and a government spokesman said the militant group were behind most of the 300 recent school attacks.

Abdul Hafiz Khasheh, he provincial deputy police chief, said: "They were Taliban - they have burned schools in this area in the past."

The Taliban opposed education for girls when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. After they were toppled by an allied invasion, millions of girls began attending schools across the country.

But schools, students and teachers have increasingly been coming under attack again.

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