The Taleban has banned the teaching of English in Afghanistan in retaliation for the US and British air strikes and ordered all English language schools closed.
It says that those who continue to teach English will be severely punished.
Despite the Taleban's suspicion of educational establishments in general there is a
keen appetite to learn English, even in small villages, among students who believe knowledge of the language is necessary for emigration. Small private schools have flourished.
Computer skills are taught in English but it is not clear if schools teaching them will also have to close.
The Taleban's action against English is in keeping with its tradition of banning cultural phenomenon of which it disapproves.
When it captured Kabul in 1996 it immediately prohibited television, video, satellite television and music.
Not content with this the Taleban then banned all games including football and even kite flying - a favourite pass time in Afghanistan where it is often very windy.
The ban on English is reported by Radio Solh ( Radio Peace), inappropriately housed in a military barracks in the village of Jabal Saraj in northern Afghanistan.
The Taleban may, however, be unable to enforce their new decree because the breakdown of communications within Afghanistan with the destruction of Radio Shariat, the main state radio station in Kabul.
Some radio station elsewhere, notably in Balkh province in the north are still broadcasting.
- INDEPENDENT
