PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL<br/> <br />Mohammed Nadeem is 17.<br/> <br />He's a pupil at the Habibia High School in the Afghan capital, Kabul.<br/> <br />And he spends one day each month searching his fellow students on entry.<br/> <br />It's part of a government-imposed security scheme in response to growing fears of attack.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: MOHAMMED NADEEM, HABIBIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, SAYING (Dari):<br/> <br />"I'm guarding and searching schoolboys once a month in order to prevent anarchy. I also don't allow those who want to break school rules."<br/> <br />The heightened security at boys' schools is partly a result of attacks on female students.<br/> <br />These girls were poisoned by contaminated water.<br/> <br />There've also been attacks on teachers and schools have been destroyed, predominantly in the conservative south and east of Afghanistan.<br/> <br />That's where the Taliban insurgency draws much of its support.<br/> <br />The Afghan intelligence service says some of the attacks are carried out by pupils or school staff bribed to do so.<br/> <br />The Taliban denies involvement and says it's part of a campaign to tarnish its reputation.<br/> <br />But fear is taking its toll.<br/> <br />The head of the Habibia High School is Sayed Shahlala Bakawli.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: SAYED SHAHLALA BAKAWLI, HEADMASTER OF HABIBIA HIGH SCHOOL, SAYING (Dari):<br/> <br />"We hear that there are some attacks on schools in the provinces, (HE SAYS). God forbid we have such incidents in Kabul. Because of such attacks we started a progamme to provide better security and discipline for our school and students."<br/> <br />Afghanistan''s intelligence agency says the Taliban is bent on closing schools before the withdrawal of most foreign troops in 2014.<br/> <br />Thousands of Afghan students, mostly girls, are being denied an education as schools shut down.<br/> <br />Such closures also raise questions about the ability of Afghanistan's own forces to hold on to hard-earned gains like women's rights and civil liberties on their own.<br/> <br />Paul Chapman, Reuters
