ISIS terrorists destroy schools, bars female students in restive Afghan district

The Islamic State militant group has destroyed more than a dozen schools in a restive district of northern Afghanistan, threatening students and insisting that teachers must amend their curriculum, provincial officials said.

Abul Rahman Mahmoodi, the acting governor of northern Jawzjan province, told VOA that a girl’s high school was among the destruction by IS militants during the past 10 days in the Darzab district.

“I wish they had a proper curriculum. Based on our information, [the militants] do not have anything to offer,” Mahmoodi said. “They burned down a female high school entirely and plundered other schools in the area, taking their desks and chairs with them after destroying the infrastructure.”

According to provincial education officials, IS militants said an educational curriculum acceptable to Islamic State must be taught in areas that the group controls.

A local resident who did not want to disclose his name for safety reasons told VOA that IS militants warned girls not to attend school. They make up 40 percent of the 18,000 enrolled students in the district’s 47 government-run schools, which are currently closed for summer holidays.

Abdul Hai Yesheen, Jawzjan province’s education chief, told VOA the IS militants destroyed biology labs inside the schools. Islamic State adherents say they consider study of the human skeleton to be a form of polytheism.

IS and rival militants from the Taliban have clashed fiercely in a fight for control of Darzab, and Baz Mohammad Dawar, acting chief of the district, said 10 Taliban militants were beheaded after they were captured by IS fighters last week.

Islamic State and Taliban fighters streamed into Darzab last month from two directions, and scores of Afghan government forces in the area were under siege until counter-strikes by Afghan and U.S. forces took effect. The center of the district was held by the Taliban, with IS militants controlling areas outside Darzab’s center, but local officials said both groups subsequently were driven out by the combined Afghan and U.S. effort.

Source: VOA