Afghan girls protest in Kabul: 'Open the schools'

About two dozen girls and women chanting "open the schools" protested in the Afghan capital Saturday against the Taliban's decision to shut their secondary schools just hours after re-opening them this week.

Thousands of jubilant girls across Afghanistan had flocked to high schools on March 23 -- the date the education ministry had set for classes to resume.

But just hours into the first day, the ministry announced a shock policy reversal that left the youngsters saying they felt betrayed and foreign governments expressing outrage.

The Taliban have not given a clear reason for their decision, which came after a meeting late Tuesday of senior officials in the southern city of Kandahar, the Islamist movement's de facto power centre and spiritual heartland.

It followed months of work by some foreign countries on a plan to support the payment of teachers' wages.

Afghan girls have now been out of education for more than seven months.