Atop UN official yesterday claimed that some Taliban leaders, who issued fatwa against girls' education during their rule in Afghanistan, have themselves sent their female children to schools run with the support of the international body.

Louis-Georges Arsenault, who was Unicef representative in Afghanistan from 1998 to 2001, said top Taliban officials had "openly" told UN officials that the fatwa was issued because they needed their troops not be distracted by the movement ofwomen and girls.

“Some of the Taliban fighters were sending their girls in schools any way," said Arsenault, who is credited with managing one of Unicef's largest humanitarian operations in Afghanistan.