Taliban urge Afghan professors to return home to help rebuild Afghanistan

Kabul [Afghanistan], February 11 : The Taliban in Afghanistan has called on university professors, who fled the country after the outfit seized power last August, to return to Afghanistan.
In an official statement published in national media on Friday, the outfit sought help in rebuilding the country and contributing to scientific development.
"Afghanistan is the common home of all ethnic groups and we are responsible for their development. In the absence of prosperity, the country's education system is incomplete. Accordingly, the Ministry of Higher Education invites all professors who have left the country, " the statement cited by Ariana News said.
The statement claimed that the government in Afghanistan focuses on education as part of its policy to foster the country's development, with the funding allocated to hire new academic staff.
"We ask the cadres who have left the homeland to return and continue their sacred profession and contribute to the scientific progress of the country. The Ministry of Higher Education undertakes to pay all the spiritual and economic benefits of these professors," the statement added.
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan last August last year. A month later, they formed an interim government that is yet to get recognition from the international community.
The number of registered Afghan refugees in neighbouring Pakistan exceeded 1.4 million, with Iran alone sheltering over 780,000 registered Afghans and 2.25 million illegal refugees, according to the UN refugee agency.