For Yasamin, studying nursing at a healthcare institute in Jalalabad was her last lifeline to make something of herself after women were banned from universities in Afghanistan two years ago. But the Taliban government has crushed this ambition by ordering, according to multiple sources, the exclusion of Afghan women from medical training, sparking panic across institutions. The authorities have made no official comment or confirmation, nor have they responded to the numerous condemnations and calls to reverse a decision that further blocks women's access to education. "Now that the school has closed, all our hopes are gone," Yasamin tells AFP under a pseudonym. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES