From Compass DirectChristians in the Afghan-border region 120 miles north of Peshawar say that extremists from the Taliban movement, which ruled most of Afghanistan from 1995 to 2001, have targeted them in recent months. .... The order to cover up under the full-body robe that leaves only the hands and eyes visible may affect Christians at the Catholic-run Public High School in Sangota. The all-girls school had already closed down for a week this month after being threatened with suicide attacks for supposedly converting students to Christianity. ....
The all-girls school re-opened its doors on September 17 after a threat letter from Muslim extremists forced it to shut down for a week. Entitled “Red Notice for Public School Sangota, (The Factory of Englishmen),” a September 8 letter accused the nuns of involving students in adultery, according to a Union of Catholic News for Asia (UCAN) article. The Urdu-language note said that Christian teachers were converting Muslim students, who make up more than 99 percent of the schools 950 students, to Christianity. The Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace reported that the extremists also told parents to withdraw their girls and place them in Islamic schools. The letter threatened suicide bombings if the school did not require its students to wear burqas and fire all Christian and male teachers by September 17. Only half of the students returned when the high school reopened its doors on September 17 with assurances of increased security from local officials, UCAN reported.