KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities have closed two English language education centers in central Daikundi province and arrested several of their instructors, local sources report.
Sources told KabulNow that in the Khadir district, the Taliban’s intelligence agency detained the director and two teachers from the Ofuqi Naw English language center on Sunday, January 12.
Located in the Korga area of Khadir, the center’s director, Sayed Habib, and teachers Abdul Raziq Taqipour and Asif Rahish are reportedly being held by the Taliban’s intelligence service in the district.
Sources also confirmed that four female teachers from the same center were initially arrested but later released on bail. Additionally, the Taliban seized office equipment and computers from the center.
The Taliban justified the arrests by accusing the teachers of “promoting a foreign culture,” claiming that the center’s curriculum violated the group’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The Taliban also cited the absence of religious content as another reason for the closure.
Sources also told KabulNow that the Taliban shut down the GRS Educational Center, which had been offering English language courses in the Sang Takht-e-Bandar district for the past five years. The center primarily served female students, many of whom are affected by the Taliban’s ban on schooling for girls beyond the sixth grade.
Meanwhile, three teachers—Asad Halimi, Mahdi Farzad, and Jamaluddin Paiman—from this center remain in Taliban custody since their detention.
Efforts by local elders and community members to secure the release of these instructors have been unsuccessful so far.
One source noted that the director of GRS Educational Center had received a warning from the Taliban earlier.
The closures and arrests come as part of the Taliban’s ongoing campaign to restrict educational opportunities for girls and women across Afghanistan. Since the group’s return to power in August 2021, the Taliban has systematically rolled back women’s rights, including a ban on secondary education for girls.
The restrictions were later extended to prevent women from attending universities and other educational institutions, including English Language Centers, sparking widespread condemnation.
Human rights organizations and the United Nations have condemned these actions, describing the Taliban’s gender-based policies as “gender apartheid.”