The Taliban have arrested five women taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, against the ban on women attending universities.
Three journalists were also arrested. Protests are also understood to have taken place in the Takhar province.Guards stopped hundreds of women from entering universities on Wednesday – a day after the ban was announced.
It is the latest policy restricting women’s education since the Taliban returned to power last year.Girls have already been excluded from most secondary schools
The new ban was implemented with immediate effect by the higher education minister on Tuesday, with public and private universities ordered to bar women from attending.
The education ministry said its scholars had evaluated the university curriculum and environment, and attendance for girls would be suspended until “a suitable environment” was provided.
Later, the Taliban minister of higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem, said on state television that women were banned from university for not following the dress code.
“They were dressing like they were going to a wedding.”
Footage shared on social media on Thursday showed about two dozen Afghan women dressed in hijabs marching through the streets of Kabul, raising banners and shouting slogans.
The group had initially planned to gather in front of Kabul University, the country’s largest and most prestigious educational institution, but changed location after the authorities deployed a large number of security personnel there.
The Taliban had promised a softer rule after seizing power in August 2021, following the US withdrawal from the country. However, the hardline Islamists have continued to roll back women’s rights and freedoms in the country.
Women-led protests have become increasingly rare in Afghanistan since their return. Participants risk arrest, violence and social stigma for taking part.
Before Tuesday’s announcement, universities had already been operating under discriminatory rules for women.