Dozens of girls protested in a city in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, against the Taliban authorities' closure of their high schools just a few days after classes resumed there, according to residents and activists.

Teaching had resumed in five public high schools for girls in Paktia province in eastern Afghanistan last week, in response to the insistence of hundreds of female students who were deprived of education after the Taliban movement closed educational institutions for girls.

But when the female students returned to their schools on Saturday in Gardez, the provincial capital, they were told to return to their homes, according to a women's rights activist and residents. The activist Yasmin, who organized the protest, said, "This morning when the students were not allowed to enter the schools, we organized a protest movement."

The girls participated in the school uniform, which is a white headscarf and black pants and shirt, in a march in the center of Gardez protesting the closure of their schools. Four of the schools that were reopened are located in Gardez while the fifth is located in Samkani.

After seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed strict restrictions on girls and women to align with their strict concept of Islam, excluding them from public life. In March, they ordered the closure of all girls' high schools just hours after reopening them.

Photos of the students' march in the city center on Saturday circulated on social media.