About 300 women — covered head-to-toe in accordance with strict new dress policies for education — was seen sitting in rows at a Kabul university lecture theatre Saturday, pledging commitment to the Taliban's hardline policies on gender segregation. They waved Taliban flags as speakers railed against the West and expressed support for the Islamists' policies.
Most wore black niqabs covering most of the face apart from the eyes.
Women's rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule, but since returning to power last month they have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule.
The Taliban's education authority has said that women will be allowed to attend university as long as classes are segregated by sex or at least divided by a curtain.
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