Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed a girl of 13 and a woman teacher in a savage attack on female education in Afghanistan, six years after the Taleban regime was removed from power.

The attack, at the Fatima High School in the Qala-e-Saeed Habib area of Logar province, has been blamed on insurgents. The school is less than an hour’s drive from the capital Kabul.

“Those who carried out this cowardly attack are the enemies of the country,” said Hanif Atmar, the Education Minister.

General Mustafa, the chief of police for Logar province, told The Times: “The attack, at noon on Tuesday, killed one teacher, who was 29, and a girl of 13. Four girls were wounded in the attack and two are still in hospital. They were all between 12 and 18 years old.”

The school has been open for five years and was built on land donated by villagers. More than 600 girls are taught in morning and afternoon shifts; the attack happened as one shift left and the other arrived.

“The girl knew the Koran off by heart, they said she was a great student,” said Ali Mohammad, an MP for the province. “I cried when I heard the news.”

A policeman said: “It was known what time some of the girls left the school and others arrived. This guy shooting from a motorbike planned it. He knew girls would be leaving and some would be arriving, he wanted to kill girls.”

Michael Shaikh, of Human Rights Watch, told The Times: “This attack shows that the Taleban’s rhetoric of protecting civilians is just that, rhetoric. We can’t take them seriously, they attacked unarmed civilians leaving a school.”

“It highlights that the general security situation is deteriorating in Afghanistan, ” he added. A Taleban spokesman, speaking to Afghanistan’s Pajhwok news agency, denied that Taleban insurgents were involved. “Such slayings are mostly linked to family feuds and local customs,” he said.

Afghan officials said in April that in the past year 85 teachers and students had been killed, most by Taleban insurgents. They have frequently threatened schools and students across Afghanistan.

Under the Taleban regime, girls were barred from going to school. United Nations figures indicate that 90 per cent of women in the countryside are still illiterate.

Although a lot of new schools have been built since 2001, in many areas parents are still too afraid or don’t believe it necessary to send their daughters to school. Schools often struggle to find teachers willing to work in the more dangerous areas and the salary of only $50 (£25) a month puts off others.

“The Afghan Government and the international community has to do more to protect schools,” said Mr Shaikh.

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