Days after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, young girls wearing white hijabs and black tunics returned to schools? in the western Afghan city of Herat.
The school scenes -- which many feared would be banned under the Taliban -- were filmed by an AFP cameraman this week, just days after Taliban terrorists took the city following the collapse of government forces and local militia.
"We want to progress like other countries," said student Roqia.
"And we hope the Taliban will maintain security. We don't want war, we want peace in our country."
With its close proximity to the Iranian border, the ancient Silk Road city of Herat has long been a cosmopolitan exception to more conservative centres.
Women and girls walked more freely in the streets, attending schools and colleges in huge numbers in a city famed for its poetry and arts.
Under the hardline version of sharia law that the Taliban imposed when they controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s, women and girls were mostly denied education and employment.
Full face coverings became mandatory in public, and women could not leave home without a male companion.