The UN mission to Afghanistan on Wednesday urged the Taliban government to reconsider a reported plan to ban women from attending medical training institutes, in the latest move to restrict women鈥檚 education.
A health ministry source and managers from private medical institutes, which offer training in subjects such as midwifery and nursing, said on Tuesday the public health ministry had issued a directive from the Taliban supreme leader to suspend women鈥檚 attendance.
There has been no official Taliban government confirmation of the ban, but institute employees said they had been given 10 days to hold final exams before women would be barred.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said it was 鈥榚xtremely concerned鈥� by the reports and urged the Taliban government to 鈥榬econsider implementing鈥� the rule.
Meanwhile, an Afghan TV station has been shut down after its office was used for dubbing 鈥榲ulgar鈥� programmes for banned media, the Taliban morality ministry said on Thursday, with the channel鈥檚 employees saying six people have been detained.
The ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice accused people working within Arezo TV of providing content to Afghan media based outside the country, which have been heavily restricted and criticised by the Taliban authorities.
鈥楽ome people were using the name of Arezo TV to carry out actions that were contrary to Islamic values and national traditions,鈥� the PVPV said in a statement announcing the station鈥檚 closure.
鈥業t became clear that some people had used the name and building of Arezo TV as well as their position in the media outlet to pay temporary workers to dub vulgar serials and programmes that were against Islamic and Afghan principles and traditions with the financial support of exiled media outlets outside the country,鈥� it said.
Two employees with Arezo said that six people were arrested when the office was raided.
Around eight Taliban officials 鈥� including one who was armed 鈥� entered the Kabul office mid-morning on Wednesday and separated men from women before taking their phones and information, one source said.
鈥楾he office is sealed, and they asked us to wait for further orders 鈥� either the office will be reopened again or shut down,鈥� he said.
A second Arezo TV employee said the six detained employees were still in custody and under investigation by PVPV.
As of Thursday afternoon, Arezo TV was not broadcasting in Kabul, AFP journalists said.
The Afghanistan Journalists Centre, a press freedom group, said Taliban intelligence officers and morality police had raided the office, citing an employee saying the staff were 鈥榤istreated鈥� and that their phones and computers were confiscated.
The channel, founded in 2006 in northern Mazar-i-Sharif city, produces news as well as wildlife documentaries and 鈥業slamic series鈥� dubbed from Turkish, with a staff of some 70 people in Kabul, AFJC said.
