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The Taliban have stopped girls returning to secondary schools in Afghanistan.

For the new term, only boys and male teachers were allowed back into classrooms.

The military group seized control of the country in South Central Asia last month, after the Afghan government collapsed.

The Taliban said they were working to reach a decision on the matter, but many fear a return of their strict rules, which severely restricted girls' and women's rights the last time they were in charge.

When the Taliban leaders were in control before, they banned many things, including education for girls, television, music and cinema.

Men were made to grow beards and women had to wear burkas, which is a one-piece veil that covers the face and body.

People living under Taliban control could be punished very harshly for breaking their rules. They have been accused of various human rights and cultural abuses.

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Last month, leaders of the Taliban had said that girls would be allowed to study in line with the group's interpretation of Islamic religious law, but what that means for female students is not yet clear.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted by Afghanistan's Bakhtar News Agency as saying that girls' schools would open soon, adding that officials were currently working on the "procedure" for this and details including the division of teachers.

The spokesman told the ´óÏó´«Ã½ that officials were also trying to sort out transport for older schoolgirls.

But girls and their parents have told the ´óÏó´«Ã½ that they do not have a great deal of hope that they can return to education. "Everything looks very dark," one said.

One schoolgirl, a 16-year-old from Kabul, told the ´óÏó´«Ã½ on Saturday that it was a "sorrowful day".

"I wanted to become a doctor! And that dream has vanished. I don't think they would let us go back to school. Even if they open the high schools again, they don't want women to become educated."

Working women have also been told to stay at home for now and females protesting against the Taliban, have been very badly treated.

It also seems that the Islamist group have shut down a department set up by the Afghan government, that focused on supporting women and girls, and replaced it with one that once enforced strict religious teachings.