Taliban destroy coed school ------------------------------------------ Sunday, January 8, 2006 (Kandahar):
Suspected Taliban gunmen have destroyed a co-educational primary school in Kandahar.
A group of men raided Qabail Primary School before dawn today, briefly detaining its guards but not hurting them, said Hayabullah Rafiqi Othak, Kandahar province's Education Director.
The assailants then went into each classroom, making bonfires of books and wooden desks that eventually razed the whole school.
Series of attacks
The attack came just hours after gunmen had tried to set fire to another school in Kandahar, but its guards had scared away the arsonists.
Deputy provincial police chief Abdul Hakim Hungar said five suspects have been arrested.
The attack was the latest in a spate of assaults that have forced many schools to close down.
The insurgents claim that educating girls is against Islam. The rebels even oppose government-funded schools for boys because they teach subjects besides religion.
Last Tuesday, suspected Taliban insurgents beheaded the headmaster of another coed school in the region. (AP)