KABUL, 26 March 2022, (TON): The United States and the United Nations warned Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers that the failure to reopen girls’ schools could hurt their efforts to get international recognition and rebuild the Afghan economy.

The Taliban had announced earlier that high schools in Afghanistan will open their doors to girls but later reversed their decision until it’s decided what would be an appropriate uniform for girls.

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned “this decision by the Taliban, if it is not swiftly reversed, will profoundly harm the Afghan people, the country’s prospects for economic growth, and the Taliban’s ambition to improve their relations with the international community.”

In New York, UN Secretary general António Guterres said “the Taliban’s decision not only violates the equal rights of women and girls to education, but it also jeopardises the country’s future in view of the tremendous contributions by Afghan women and girls.”

The Taliban’s ambassador-designate to the United Nations Suhail Shaheen, however, assured the international community that this was only a technical delay.