The Taliban have banned education for millions of Afghan girls. Times journalists examined classrooms where students, teachers and parents continue to resist by defying the rules.

The Taliban have banned education for millions of Afghan girls. Times journalists examined classrooms where students, teachers and parents continue to resist by defying the rules.

Under Taliban rule, Afghan girls are officially barred from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade. Across the country, however, clandestine classrooms have emerged to defy the ban. Our Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief, Elian Peltier, visited one of these covert schools to meet the young women determined to learn.

The fire broke out at Islamabad’s largest hospital and has become a political issue. Opposition supporters shouted, “Stop killing our children!” at an official visiting the scene.

The Taliban have Afghanistan in a chokehold that spares no one. But threats are starting to crack their veneer of stability and control.

In an interview, Afghanistan’s foreign minister called on the U.S. to reopen its embassy and invest in the country — a near-impossible sell for now, analysts and former diplomats say.