Taliban Executes Headmaster for Educating Girls

Before the invasion of Afghanistan and the defeat of the Taliban by U.S. forces, women in Afghanistan were forbidden to work outside of the home, girls were not allowed to be educated, and a woman's entire body had to be covered (including even her eyes, which were concealed behind a mesh fabric). She was not allowed to go outside of the home without a male chaperone.

After the U.S. invasion, progress has been made, but slowly. Girls are now allowed to be educated. But the Taliban resurgency is fighting to impede this progress. According to news reports on January 4 and 5, 2006, a headmaster in Afghanistan who permitted girls to attend school was murdered--stabbed first, then decapitated--as his wife and 8 children were forced to watch by the Taliban.

Source:
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1678199,00.html

Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/01/05/militants_behead_afghan_principal_for_educating_girls/