“Providing education to girls and women is not against religious beliefs,” said Director General of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, wrapping up a three-day visit to the country. “It enhances their opportunities to contribute to the development of their societies, to feel an integral part of them, and to benefit their families.”

In the capital, Kabul, Ms. Bokova visited the Ayesha-e-Durrani High School, named after the first Afghan women to open a school for local girls. Shuttered and damaged just a decade ago, today 1,600 students are enrolled in the school which includes computer and science laboratories.

“Here in this school I see the results of our work,” said Mrs. Bokova. “I have come here with a strong message of support. You are a country of ancient traditions and young talent.”

Despite positive changes in the education sector, three million Afghan children remain out of school. Of these, 70 per cent of these are girls, according to the latest figures cited by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

During a meeting with President Hamid Karzai and other senior officials, Ms. Bokova praised the Government for promoting girls’ education and enhancing literacy in the country and reiterated UNESCO’s continued support on such issues.

She also noted that while difficult to change mindsets and traditional, Afghan women need to be given assurances that they are full members of society.

Before returning to Paris today, Mrs. Bokova met with students and workers in Afghanistan’s cultural sector, and toured the country’s rebuilt National Museum.

UNESCO has been working with the museum, whose curators preserved some archaeological pieces by hiding them during decades of war, to create programmes that showcase Afghanistan’s vast and unique cultural legacy. Recently some important historical sites have come under threat from mining interests and the Director General urged authorities to step up their efforts to preserve the country’s heritage.

“Countries across the world strive to reconcile modernity and preservation of their cultural heritage assets,” she said. “The cultural heritage of Afghanistan will be the future economic and social asset of your country, it will provide self confidence and pride to the people of Afghanistan.”

The attacks, which took place last Friday – one in the capital, Kabul, outside of the premises of the Ministry of Defense, and the other in the south-eastern province of Khost, targeting an Afghan National Police foot patrol – resulted in the high number of civilian casualties, with minimal impact on their purported military targets, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a news statement.

UNAMA also renewed its call for all anti-government elements to stop the use of improvised explosive devices and suicide attacks against civilians or in public locations frequented primarily by civilians.

“In particular, UNAMA notes that the indiscriminate use of such tactics, which fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants, is a violation of international humanitarian law,” the UN mission stated, in addition to offering its condolences to the families of the victims killed in the attacks, and wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded.

UNAMA was established by the Security Council in 2002 at the request of the Government of Afghanistan to assist with the laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development in the country.

On Thursday night, armed Taleban fighters stormed the Spozhmay Hotel in the Lake Qargha area near the capital, taking dozens of hotel guests and staff hostage.

In the ensuing siege that lasted almost 12 hours, a fierce gun battle broke out between Taleban fighters and NATO and Afghan troops, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people – including 15 civilians.

It was the most serious single loss of civilian life in Afghanistan since the Taleban attacked Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel a year ago, killing 22 people, again mostly civilians.

“The Taleban’s repeated brazen attacks targeting civilians show an utter disregard for human life and may amount to war crimes which should be investigated and prosecuted by the International Criminal Court, as should crimes which may have been committed by NATO and Afghan troops,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Acting Asia and Pacific Programme Director.

Afghanistan is a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court since 2003.

“The Afghan government and its international partners must not lose sight of human rights as they pursue reconciliation with the Taleban. Any potential peace deal must not include impunity for war crimes and other grave human rights abuses committed by all parties to the conflict,” she added.

According to UN data, the Taleban appear to be responsible for the vast majority of attacks on civilians in Afghanistan – out of 3,021 civilian deaths reported last year, 77 per cent were attributed to them and insurgent groups.

On 8 November 2011, Taleban leader Mullah Omar ordered fighters to protect civilians and avoid targeting civilian objects. The order seems to have been nothing more than a propaganda ploy, as in the past year, the armed group has increasingly used “soft” targets like hotels to maximize the civilian death toll.

Amnesty International has documented how they and other insurgent groups have increased their use of sophisticated suicide attacks in busy civilian areas – including hospitals, schools, hotels and mosques – and have regularly hidden behind civilians, knowingly putting them in danger.

The Taleban and other insurgents have also specifically targeted women, killing the headmaster of a girl’s school in May 2011, as well as female MPs and aid workers.

International humanitarian law – the laws of armed conflicts – stipulates that nobody should target civilians, regardless of their political allegiance.

“Under international humanitarian law, all parties to a conflict must protect civilians and civilian objects while carrying out their military operations,” said Catherine Baber. “The Taleban are well aware of this and even refer to it when deemed to their advantage. But their current strategy seems to rely on systematically violating these laws by jeopardizing civilians and maximizing the human cost.”

It is Hollande’s first visit to Afghanistan since assuming office on May 15. He was accompanied by French defence and foreign ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Laurent Fabius, and chief of army staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud, according to AFP. 

The visit The French head of state arrived at Kabul airport at around 8:30 am (0400 GMT) at the start of a visit expected to last only a few hours.

The new French President, Francois Hollande, has promised to pull out the country’s forces by the end of this year,  two years before the alliance’s timetable. But  in Chicago NATO summit Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed confidence the alliance would “maintain solidarity” despite France’s decision. ”There will be no rush for the exits,” he said.

There are currently 3,400 French soldiers in Afghanistan.

Hollande it clear at the NATO summit to Obama that he would not renege on a campaign pledge to send back French combat troops a year earlier than planned.

Hollande is in Afghanistan to tell to French soldiers why he had decided to accelerate their exit from the nearly 11-year war, accoridng to Khaleejtimes. Other NATO allies agreed in Chicago to an unconditional withdrawal by the end of 2014, leaving Afghans responsible for national security.