Kabul [Afghanistan], February 8 (ANI): As Afghan women continue to grapple with challenges related to education due to Taliban-imposed bans, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a recent statement said that the females in war-torn Afghanistan are living in exile in their own country, TOLOnews reported.

The UN Chief reiterated that the basic rights of Afghan women and girls are trampled due to the ban on education by the de-facto authorities.

The UN said in a statement that Guterres expressed his concerns about the right of women and girls in Afghanistan.

"In Afghanistan, where women's rights are being trampled," the UN Statement read citing Guterres.

The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, Zabiullah Mujahid, however, refuted the claims and asserted that women's and girls' rights have been upheld in Afghanistan and that the international community should refrain from exerting pressure on the current administration using the subject of women.

"They should not make this a political tool and use it as a means of pressure," Mujahid said, as per TOLOnews.

Females students in Afghnaistan have repeatedly called out to the Taliban to open education institutions for girls to attend at the earliest.

"We ask the current government to reopen schools, madrassas and all educational centers to girls," said Nargis Niazi, a student.

In the latest decree, the Taliban has banned female students from sitting in university entrance exams, TOLOnews reported. The decision was followed by another decree from the caretaker government prohibiting women from working in non-governmental organisations, which sparked outrage on both the national and international levels.

Many Islamic countries and organisations, including the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have condemned the ban on women's and girls' access to work and education as a violation of Islamic law.

Since August 15, 2021, the de facto authorities have barred girls from attending secondary school, restricted women and girls' freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned women from using parks, gyms and public bath houses. These restrictions culminate with the confinement of Afghan women and girls to the four walls of their homes. (ANI)