Taliban fighters in Ghazni province have taken over a girls’ hostel and used it as a military base, according to reliable sources.
The hostel at the Faiz Mohammad Kateb teacher training institute in Jaghori district was taken over more than a year ago, with its residents kicked out and only soldiers allowed to access the building, a social activist with knowledge of the hostel told Rukhshana Media.
A second source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, says the Taliban soldiers broke the locks of the hostel to get in, saying they had permission in writing from Mawlawi Aminullah, the Taliban’s former district governor for Jaghuri.
The hostel used to house around 150 female students at the peak of the previous government. But after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, only 30 female students were staying there.
Faiz Mohammad Kateb Teacher Training Institute was the only government institution in Jaghori district that provided a two-year diploma.
One of the Taliban soldiers in Jaghori district has confirmed on condition of anonymity that the Taliban soldiers are using the girls’ hostel as their base with as many as 15 of his fellow soldiers living there. He said that now, due to the cold winter, fewer soldiers are staying in the hostel, but in warmer months, more Taliban will stay there.
The Taliban has closed girls’ schools, universities, and educational institutes in the country. Following the move, the gates of government hostels and student accommodation for women in Afghanistan also closed.
During the previous government, male and female students from different provinces were recruited to Faiz Muhammad Kateb Institute after passing the entrance examination. The center was considered a safe and accessible educational place for many poor families in Jaghori district.
A large number of girls in the district, who could not travel to other provinces due to the poor economy or other problems, were studying there.
Rashmin* 26, a resident of Baba area in Jaghori district was a graduate. She said the institute was able to provide an education for a large number of girls from poorer families due to its hostel facilities. “I had lots of problems, but the main one was economic,” she said. “There were more than a hundred girls and many of them had problems like me.”
In September last year, Taliban official Abdul Razaq Mansour, confirmed in a conversation with local media that the girls’ hostel at the teaching institute was occupied by soldiers. He said that he had asked Mawlawi Hafiz Faizi, the district governor of the Taliban, for the soldiers to be transferred to another place.
According to Mr. Mansour, Mawlawi Faizi promised that the Taliban soldiers in Jaghori district would leave that hostel. But the Taliban soldiers are still there more than four months on.
The Taliban police headquarters of Ghazni province did not answer Rukhshana Media’s questions about the hostel.
Previously, the Taliban had turned the only women’s park in Ghazni prvoince into military base. And a special indoor market for women near the Kabul-Kandahar highway, established under the previous government to create work and employment opportunities for women in Ghazni city, has been closed by the Taliban.
