Afghan Minister Dismisses Taliban Schools Initiative
January 22, 2007
Militants have destroyed some 200 schools, including this one in Konar in April 2006 (epa)
Atmar said the plan is merely a pretext for moving terror training centers into Afghanistan from Pakistan, where Afghan officials say many Taliban loyalists are based.
On January 21, a Taliban spokesman said the Islamist movement will spend $1 million on opening schools to counter the "propaganda" of the West and Afghanistan's Western-backed government.
Militants have carried out a violent campaign targeting schools in the past five years, destroying 200 schools and killing 20 teachers in 2006 alone.
(AP, AFP)