Afghan girls torn between fears and ambitions after school attack
Amina was one of the hardest-working girls in her class at Sayed Ul-shuhada High School in west Kabul, her best friend remembers, determined to become a doctor to treat Afghanistan’s thousands of war victims.
Amina became a victim herself on Saturday, killed in a massive bomb blast as she and dozens of girls left school in the minority Hazara neighbourhood that has repeatedly been targeted by militants. Masooma, 17, who was holding back at school with friends, narrowly missed the blast.
“It was like the sky was falling in’’, she said.
Mourning her friend, Masooma is now torn between fear of returning to class and a defiant desire to complete her education.
“I am scared. It will be difficult to return’’, she said. “But I will. I want to be a doctor to make sure that Amina’s dream does not go away.”
Masooma’s dilemma matches that of many in the Hazara community and of girls throughout Afghanistan, as foreign forces prepare to leave, security deteriorates and emboldened hardline groups threaten years of gains in girls’ education.
Afghanistan marked an official day of mourning on Tuesday as the death toll rose to at least 80. Some 160 were wounded, most of them girls. No group has claimed responsibility. The insurgent Taliban, who say they are open to girls’ education to the extent allowed by religious law, have denied any responsibility and condemned the bloodshed.
But amid growing insecurity and targeted attacks on civilians and women, many officials and analysts fear hardline groups like IS could threaten years of gains in girls’ education.
During the Taliban’s rule from 1996 until their ouster in 2001, girls were blocked from school, nearly all women had to quit work, their movement was restricted and a strict dress code enforced.
More than 3.5 million girls are now enrolled in school, according to the USAID, compared to none during the Taliban era. But an estimated 3.7 million children remain out of school, 60 per cent of them girls, according to Unicef.
“This attack will have a huge impact on girls across the country’’, said Heather Barr, interim co-director of the women’s rights division of Human Rights Watch.
“We hear again and again from parents and girls about how they factored in attacks... into decisions about whether girls could study, even when those attacks were years earlier, or on the other side of the country.”
AMID GROWING INSECURITY AND TARGETED ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS AND WOMEN, MANY OFFICIALS AND ANALYSTS FEAR HARDLINE GROUPS COULD THREATEN YEARS OF GAINS IN GIRLS’ EDUCATION