Afghan girls are barred from attending school, yet the daughters of Taliban commanders play football and study medicine abroad

Despite the fact that Afghanistan's Islamic Emirate continues to refuse girls education beyond the sixth grade, more than two dozen prominent Taliban commanders are schooling their daughters at schools in Doha, Peshawar, and Karachi, according to people familiar with the initiative.

Health Minister Qalandar Ebad, Deputy Foreign Minister Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, and spokesman Suhail Shaheen are among the leaders.

Suhail Shaheen's two daughters, along with his three boys, attend state-run schools in Doha, the home of the Islamic Emirate's political office, according to a source close to the family. According to the source, the elder daughter even played football for her school's squad.

According to reports, Qalandar Ebad, a qualified physician with degrees from Nangarhar University and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, provided a medical education for his daughter, who currently works as a doctor in Islamabad.

According to reports, Stanikzai's daughter completed her medical study in Doha after completing her high school education at a well-known school.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year, officials in the Islamic Emirate — as the country is known by the Taliban — repeatedly promised to reopen schools for girls, but then reversed their decision just hours later, on March 23.

The Islamic Emirate has also barred women from working and restricted their ability to travel without the company of a male relative. Although no formal order has been issued, the Islamic Emirate's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice put up posters around Kabul last year asking women to wear the all-encompassing burqa.

Last year, Islamic Emirate authorities said that, in addition to issues with curricula and uniforms, they lacked school money.

However, in January, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West stated that if girls' schools were reopened, the US would cover all teacher salaries.