The ultimate blow from our friends the Taliban. I'd like to hear from the folks that want us to turn our head to the problem!
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They came at night and no one saw them, but by morning the brand new school in this dusty northern Afghan village was almost entirely gutted.
"I am afraid -- we can't do anything and we don't know when the insurgents will come back," says Mohammad Hashim, the 40-year-old caretaker at the Nawaqel Aria Primary School, an hour's drive outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
At least 41 teachers and students have been killed over the past 12 months in a wave of attacks on the country's schools.
Education Minister Mohammed Hanif Atmar says attacks have closed more than 208 schools -- including 144 burned down -- in the past year as militants changed tactics to hit soft targets. By some estimates, attacks have increased six-fold over 2005.
"Over the past couple of months, the enemy of this nation has been targeting our kids in schools, our schools and our teachers," Atmar says.
"They know that education is about the future of our people. They know that education is about democracy, about true Islam, and about prosperity in Afghanistan. The main reason is killing the future, the future of Afghanistan.
"Because they cannot now face our national army and national police ... there's been a significant change of tactics."
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The rest of the story
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They came at night and no one saw them, but by morning the brand new school in this dusty northern Afghan village was almost entirely gutted.
"I am afraid -- we can't do anything and we don't know when the insurgents will come back," says Mohammad Hashim, the 40-year-old caretaker at the Nawaqel Aria Primary School, an hour's drive outside the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
At least 41 teachers and students have been killed over the past 12 months in a wave of attacks on the country's schools.
Education Minister Mohammed Hanif Atmar says attacks have closed more than 208 schools -- including 144 burned down -- in the past year as militants changed tactics to hit soft targets. By some estimates, attacks have increased six-fold over 2005.
"Over the past couple of months, the enemy of this nation has been targeting our kids in schools, our schools and our teachers," Atmar says.
"They know that education is about the future of our people. They know that education is about democracy, about true Islam, and about prosperity in Afghanistan. The main reason is killing the future, the future of Afghanistan.
"Because they cannot now face our national army and national police ... there's been a significant change of tactics."
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The rest of the story