Why Afghanistan: Tears and protests as Taliban shut universities to women

Footage shows groups weeping as they're led away:

After excluding girls from most secondary schools these past 16 months, the Taliban this week also banned university education for women:

They have destroyed the only bridge that could connect me with my future-one Kabul University student told the News:

How can I react? I believed that I could study and change my future or bring the light to my life: but they destroyed it:

Authorities issued the order on Tuesday - and by the following day other places of learning, including Islamic religious schools and private tuition colleges in several provinces, were also carrying out the ruling:

Sources from three provinces - Taker in the north-Ghazi in the south-east and the capital Kabul - confirmed to the News that the Taliban had stopped girls from attending private education centers there:

All avenues of formal education for women are being shut down, it appears:

It led some women to dare to protest on Wednesday on the streets of Kabul - a dangerous act given the Taliban's record for detaining protesters. The small demonstrations were quickly shut down by Taliban officials:

This generation had thought they were the lucky ones - getting the education denied to their mothers, older sisters and cousins:

Instead they're seeing their future crumble:

The Taliban, which began as a hardliner, Islamist militant group, had promised to respect women's rights when they swept back to power in August last year - after the horrors of their previous rule from 1996-2001 when women couldn't work or study:

But their latest decree again strips away whatever scant freedoms and rights had been afforded to women after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban returned:

Yet only three months ago, the Taliban had conceded to allowing university entrance exams to go ahead:

Thousands of girls and women sat the tests in provinces across the country. Many had studied in secret - at home or risking venturing to hidden tutoring colleges set up for girls:

The danger was always present. During some of the exams, bombers targeted schools, killing pupils:

But still the young women persisted:

Even when the Taliban in November brought in last-minute restrictions on subjects - barring girls from courses like economics, engineering and journalism - they kept trying, many applying for teaching and medicine:

As another female student put it to the NEWS: Why should we always be the victim? Afghanistan is a poor country. But women in this country have accepted poverty alongside every other problem-and-they still they have to suffer:

Girls schooling has long been a point of contention between conservative and more moderate factions in the Taliban:

The university ban now indicates a win by the more fundamentalist in the Taliban, whose supreme leader believes modern education - particularly for women and girls - is wrong in Islamic teachings:

Yet not everyone in the ruling movement thinks like him - and there were reports more moderate officials in cities like Kabul had wanted girls over the age of 12 to get an education:

As rights advocates have warned, the decision has an impact on the whole country's future: No country can thrive when half of its population is held back-US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned:

Western countries had insisted on women's education as a condition the Taliban would need to meet if they wanted global recognition. However, the Taliban have ignored the criticism so far:

For Afghan families, both in the country and around the world, seeing the future for their daughters slide back into the "dark ages" has ignited fear and anger:

News of the university ban prompted some Afghan women activists to post stories of their own university graduation days - in cap and gown:

The pushback against the Taliban since they seized power again has not been enough, they say:

And it's part of a rising tide of restrictions on women's daily lives in recent weeks. In November, women in Kabul were also stopped from entering public places such as parks and gyms. Women are increasingly being confined to their homes in policies tantamount to imprisonment, says the UN.