US And Western Allies Urge Taliban To Reopen Girls School In Afghanistan

The Western representatives called on the Taliban to urgently reverse the order as it will have consequences far beyond harming Afgan girls.

New Delhi: The Taliban ordered to shut girls' secondary schools just hours after opening them, this led the US and its allies to urge the hardline Islamist movement to reverse its decision, according to an AFP report.

The schools were reopened after seven months. 

In a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, and the US, plus the high representative of the European Union, said the decision taken by the Taliban on Wednesday will harm the group's prospects for legitimacy and Afghanistan's "ambition to become a respected member in the community of nations." 

"The Taliban's action contradicted its public assurances to the Afghan people and to the international community," the Western nations said in their statement, as quoted by AFP.

They called on the Taliban to urgently reverse order as it will have consequences far beyond harming Afgan girls, "Unreversed, it will profoundly harm Afghanistan's prospects for social cohesion and economic growth", the statement added.

In January, Norway hosted landmark talks between Afghanistan and several Western allies in Oslo, while the Norwegian government said that it was not legitimising the Taliban movement by placing "tangible demands".

The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said at the time that the lifting of sanctions on the Taliban was critical to saving lives in Afghanistan.

The Taliban decided to shut down schools after a meeting late Tuesday in the southern city of Kandahar, the movement's power centre and conservative spiritual heartland, the report said.

As per AFP, the Western nations warned that the move "will have an inevitable impact on the Taliban's prospects of gaining political support and legitimacy either at home or abroad."

"Every Afghan citizen, boy or girl, man or woman, has an equal right to an education at all levels, in all provinces of the country," they stated.