From ITN:

A teacher has been shot dead in southern Afghanistan by suspected Taleban guerrillas after he ignored their orders to stop teaching girls.

The attack was carried out by two armed men who arrived at the secondary school in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province by motorcycle, Helmand police chief Abdul Rahman Sabir said.

"They dragged the teacher from the classroom and shot him at the school gate," he said.

"He had received many warning letters from the Taleban to stop teaching, but he continued to to do so happily and honestly - he liked to teach boys and girls," Sabir said. He identified the teacher by the single name, Laghmani.

The fundamentalist Taleban banned education of girls during their rule before being overthrown by allied forces in 2001.

The guerrillas have carried out a series of attacks in the provinces on schools teaching girls, often burning them down at night.

See our last post on Afghanistan.