The killing of Mohammad Dawood Muzammil marks one of the highest-level attacks since the Taliban stormed back to power in 2021.

The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, and has sparked global outrage.

Afghanistan's economy has struggled and aid agencies are warning of a severe humanitarian crisis since the Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign troops withdrew after 20 years of war.

A gun battle had raged for hours as security forces went floor-to-floor through an office building in pursuit of the assailants.

The order threatens to suspend the operating licences of NGOs that failed to implement the directive.

Social media users urge Fadhlina Sidek to concentrate on solving Malaysia's problems before looking to the troubles in other countries.

The Taliban's higher education minister says women students have ignored Islamic instructions – including on what to wear or being accompanied by a male relative when travelling.

Most teenage girls across the country have already been banned from secondary school education, severely limiting university intake.

The militants, held on suspicion of terrorism, are demanding safe passage to Afghanistan, Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, said in a statement.

Prominent academic Chandra Muzaffar says the Malay voting pattern has always been rational, and what happened in the recent polls is a repeat of 1999 but on a larger scale.

Competing claims were again made for the seats of Myanmar and Afghanistan with the Taliban administration and Myanmar's junta pitted against envoys of the governments they ousted last year.

A Taliban spokesman says the case for the execution was thoroughly examined by a series of courts before the supreme leader gave the order.