Protesters urge Taliban to reopen girls' schools in Afghanistan

As many as two dozen, mainly female, protesters gathered close to the Taliban's Ministry of Education on Saturday morning, calling on the regime to reopen girls' secondary schools.

The protesters chanted, "Education is our right! Open the doors of girls' schools!” reports BBC.

"When it comes to standing up for freedom and the girls who want to go to school, I'm willing to die.

"We are here for the rights of our daughters to get an education. Without that right, we might as well be dead already," the BBC quoted one female teacher saying.

However, armed Taliban guards allowed protests to continue despite breaking up such demonstrations in the past.

Since the group took power last August, girls' primary schools in most of the country, along with all boys' schools, have remained open, but older girls have not been allowed back in the classroom.

The Taliban's Ministry of Education had said girls' secondary schools would restart on Wednesday, but the decision was overruled by the group's central leadership, who said they could remain closed until a "comprehensive" and "Islamic" plan for them had been drawn up.

The move provoked an outpouring of grief. On social media, Afghans have been sharing videos of pupils sobbing after returning home early from what they thought would be their first day back at school.

On Friday, a joint statement by officials from 10 countries, including the US and UK, described the Taliban's decision as "profoundly disturbing".

The US State Department cancelled meetings with the group that had been scheduled to take place in Qatar.