UN: Exclusion of Afghan girls from high schools 'shameful'

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Sunday called for Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to reopen schools to girls in grades 7-12, calling the anniversary of their exclusion from high school "shameful."

The UN said it is increasingly concerned that the policy, together with other restrictions on basic freedoms, will contribute to a deepening of the country's economic crisis in the form of greater insecurity, poverty and isolation.