Schools in Afghanistan Under Growing Attack: UNICEF
By REUTERS
Published: August 4, 2006
GENEVA (Reuters) - Schools are increasingly being attacked across Afghanistan and an estimated 100,000 children in the south are shut out of the classroom due to closures, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
There were nearly 100 attacks on Afghan schools in the first half of the year, a sixfold rise from the same period in 2005, according to the agency which blamed "unknown insurgents.''
The attacks, which included 11 explosions and 50 school burnings, have led to the deaths of six children, it said in a statement....
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Millions of Afghan children returned to school since the Taliban overthrow, including 1.5 million girls who had been discriminated against under their strict rule, UNICEF said.
"Today schools are closing, students are staying home and the hard-won progress is at risk. In four southern provinces it is estimated that more than 100,000 children are shut out of school because of school closures,'' it said.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-afghan-schools.html