Students hold their certificates during the graduation ceremony at Mirwais Neeka University in Kandahar, Afghanistan. About 200 students graduated from different faculties of the private university. The graduation ceremony was held despite public universities across the country having been closed since the return of the Taliban regime. A female student receives her certificate during the ceremony. Afghan authorities in recent weeks acknowledged the right of girls to attend primary and secondary education up to Year 12 and the need for female teachers to continue in their posts. A student receives his education diploma from the head of Kandahar governor's office during the ceremony. Female students during the ceremony. Taliban co-founder and Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund on Saturday said that girls' education had "resumed to a large extent". The graduation ceremony took place amid growing unrest in the country. The UN says ISIS has been “increasingly active” in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, with a sharp rise in the number of attacks and an expanding national footprint.