Taliban soldiers seen enjoying sun on flamingo pedal boats with assault rifles

The group of militants, armed with rifles and ‘rocket launchers’ were seen enjoying the pedal boats at the Band-e Amir National Park in the latest of a string of bizarre photos showing them in surreal situations

Taliban soldiers armed with rifles have been spotted pedal boating on a lake in Afghanistan.

The armed group of militants have been photographed enjoying the sun as they relaxed in swan and flamingo pedal boats at the Band-e Amir National Park, situated near the Bamiyan Provience.

TMZ reports the soldiers had their weapons with them in the boats, including rifles and what appeared to be a rocket launcher.

The bizarre scene is the latest of surreal situations photographed.

Earlier this month, Taliban soldiers were spotted enjoying the Dodgems at a fair in Afghanistan, which they have now taken over following a withdrawal of US and UK soldiers and evacuations of citizens in the country.

Militants were also photographed using a gym.

Earlier this week it was revealed the Taliban has barred girls from going to secondary school in Afghanistan, with only boys and male teachers told to attend.

The group said it would respect women’s rights when it took over the country earlier this month, but it seems to have already gone against its word.

The latest ruling said: “All male teachers and students should attend their education institution” – there was no mention of women or girls.

Female literacy is now at 30 per cent in Afghanistan – almost double what it was in 2001.

The UN’s children’s agency, UNICEF, said: “It is critical that all girls, including older girls, are able to resume their education without any further delays.

“For that, we need female teachers to resume teaching.”

The Taliban have also appeared to have replaced the women’s affairs ministry with a department pushing strict religious doctrine.

A sign for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was put up on Friday in Kabul, at what was the headquarters for women’s affairs.

Women have been seen protesting on social media while the Taliban have not said whether a new women’s ministry would open.

On Monday, the Mirror exclusively revealed the Taliban have recruited Chinese cyber spies to help them snoop on Afghan civilians in a mission to prevent revolts.

Beijing has sent its best communications experts to Kabul to show the Taliban how to intercept phone calls on landlines and mobile networks, and monitor internet use, and social media.

Western intelligence sources said the aim will be to prevent rebellions being organised on social media.

A US intelligence source said: “Chine has been wooing the Taliban, preparing for this day for years.

“It has controlled citizen communication for a long time and has become adept at monitoring phones, the internet, all forms of communication.

“This is likely to give the Taliban immense power and control over the entire country as social media could be an enabler to those wanting to revolt. It also gives people they are hunting down, such as former officials and security personnel, few options in how they communicate with other networks.”