Girls Of The Taliban

An insight into a girls' school in Afghanistan which imposes an even stricter interpretation of Islam than the Taliban.



Kunduz in northern Afghanistan is the country's fifth largest city and home to more than 300,000 people.


It was once a Taliban stronghold where women were deprived of their basic rights and education for girls was prohibited.

Today, particularly in towns and cities, women can go outside without their husbands or fathers, they can work, and girls can attend school and even university.

But with a new wave of privately run madrasas - or religious schools - being opened across the country, there is a growing feeling among women's rights groups that these freedoms are again under threat.

There are now 1,300 unregistered madrasas in Afghanistan, where children are given only religious teaching.

There are now 1,300 unregistered madrasas in Afghanistan, where children are given only religious teaching.

This is increasing fears among those involved in mainstream education.

Arguably the most controversial of these madrasas is Ashraf-ul Madares in Kunduz, founded by two local senior clerics, where 6,000 girls study full time.