The Afghan minister of education has written to all universities in the country to request enforcement of the ban. The contents of the letter have been verified by various media, which broke the news on Tuesday evening.
Restrictions
The new measure is the latest in a long line of restrictions for women introduced by the radical Taliban regime since it came to power in August last year. Among other things, girls are no longer allowed to attend secondary school, while women have been fired from public-sector jobs and banned from travelling without a male companion.
The United Nations are treating the new ban as a violation of an earlier promise by the regime to continue safeguarding the education of women.