The ‘War on Women’ Being Waged in Afghanistan
telegraph.co.uk
The West’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan is emboldening the Taliban to impose their brutal, medieval restrictions on women’s freedoms
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have accused one another of waging a “war on women” in America. But both are silent on the real war against women being waged by the Taliban in Afghanistan. With the 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of US and Nato troops edging closer, they have become more aggressive in their preparation for taking back control.
Recently the Taliban forced the closure of 600 schools in two eastern provinces where it has retained control, as part of its campaign to close as many girls’ schools as possible ahead of 2014. Hundreds of schoolgirls were admitted to hospital in a matter of days after drinking poisoned well water. The key target was the province of Takhar, with over 125 girls and three teachers of the Bibi Hajera girls school in Taluqan poisoned in their classrooms with a type of toxic spray. Days later, another 40 girls from the same school suffered similar symptoms. 160 girls were then poisoned in Aahan Dara Girls School in Taluqan, and almost 400 boys were also poisoned in a school near the Khost province.
In another incident, pupils from a mixed school in southern Afghanistan had to watch as their teacher and headmaster were executed for refusing to follow the Taliban’s warnings to stop educating girls.
The Taliban denied responsibility for the attacks. However, other Afghans are unconvinced, with a police spokesperson saying “the Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them from going to school.” This most recent string of attacks is a mere prelude to the inevitable full reversal of rights for women and girls come 2014.
Despite claims that the Taliban have modernised since being overthrown, these recent attacks - not to mention persistent stories of women being disfigured, forced suicides and so-called “honour killings” - confirm that the opposite is true.