Deserted Afghan Universities Open As Taliban Impose New Rules

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) Universities in Kabul were almost empty on the first day of the Afghan school year on Monday, as professors and students wrestled with the Taliban's restrictive new rules for the classroom.

The Taliban have promised a softer reign than during their first stint in power from 1996-2001, when women's freedoms in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed and they were banned from higher education.

This time the hardline Islamist group have said women will be allowed to go to private universities under the new regime, but they face tough restrictions on their clothing and movement.

Women can only attend class if they wear an abaya — a flowing robe — and a niqab — a face veil with a small window to see through — and are separated from men, the Taliban said.

Our students don't accept this and we will have to close the university, said Noor Ali Rahmani, the director of Gharjistan University in Kabul, on an almost empty campus.