Schools shut down in Helmand

Nearly 165 schools have been closed down because of security concerns in the southern province of Helmand, officials said on January 22. Provincial education director Haji Mohammad Qasim, said schools located in the Nadali, Nawzad, Baramcha and other districts of the province were shut down due to increasing threats from Taleban fighters. He said, “First, security should be established in the region, without which the smooth process of learning is impossible.” Deputy education minister Seddiq Patman also said a sense of widespread insecurity had halted the mechanism of education in the province.