Taliban shut schools in Haskamina

JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The Taliban have closed a number of schools in the Haskamina district of eastern Nangarhar province after some of their comrades were arrested by police, residents said on Wednesday.

A resident of the Yaghi Band area of the town, Rassoul Jan, told Pajhwok Afghan News the rebels had closed the area schools for the last three days and had warned they would not allow the schools to be reopened until their men were released from police custody.

“Not only in our area, but in Gurgurai, Mariz Kandaw and other insecure areas, all schools have been closed by Taliban militants,” he said.

Another resident of the district, Ghulam Nabi, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the insurgents had threatened students of the high school in the district centre to stop attending their classes.

He said the government had so far taken no action to reopen the schools and if the situation persisted, the remaining schools would also be shut down.

An official at the district education office, who wished not to be named, told Pajhwok Afghan News that some students yesterday visited the Taliban, but their request to reopen the schools was turned down.

He said the Taliban told the students that the schools would remain shut until the government released their detained comrades and provided equipment for surgical operations to the clinic in Gurguarai area.

An official at the district administration, also wishing anonymity, said the Taliban had closed about eight schools after intelligence officials detained a Taliban man, Abdul Haq, and shifted him to the provincial capital.

Nangarhar police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal confirmed the closure of schools in the Haskamina district, but declined to go into details.

The governor’s spokesman, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, told that the armed opposition had made some demands, but the demands had not been shared with the provincial government through a proper channel. He said education officials and tribal elders had launched joint efforts to resolve the issue.

The Taliban, who have been assisting the Sherzad district administration to smoothly run the education affairs, are yet to comment about the closure of schools in Haskamina.

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