The sight of girls singing and playing musical instruments in the company of men could have got these girls a few years ago in war-torn Afghanistan. But almost five years after the downfall of the hardline Islamist Taliban regime, women are finally getting a chance to come out and learn new things. In this small music school in Mazar-I-Sharif, Northern Afghanistan, women chuckle and joke with their faces exposed as they practice playing musical instruments and sing in Afghanistan's first women-only music school, relishing their newfound freedom. Just a few years ago, music was banned by the Taliban regime leading to hundreds of musicians fleeing the country. Women were barred from schools and were only permitted to leaving home with a male relative. Now, this six-month old project at the Nagashand Fine Arts Gallery, near the border with Uzbekistan, is teaching 18 girls and women singing, together with a range of modern and traditional instruments. "At the moment, there are...