STUDENTS -*AFGHANS*- STRUGGLES

AFGHAN students/children back in the classroom as violence stalks the school run.

EIGHT year-old Dunya Saboori implores her mother to let her put on her blue shalwar kameez    uniform. This weekend marks the beginning of the Afghan school year and she wants to be on time.

''It's nearly 7:00 am and we're going to be late,'' Dunya complains as she sits on a floor cushion in the family's living room in Kabul, scooping up fried eggs with chunks of bread as her-

Mother Maliha prepares backpacks and locates headscarves.

It is a scene played out in millions of homes around the world. But in war-torn Afghanistan the routine of getting children to and from schools is fraught with danger.

In a conflict with no frontline, civilians are frequently caught up in the deadly violence.

Suicide attackers tend to strike during rush-hour when streets are choked with pedestrians and traffic  -the same time the parents are often dropping off or picking up their children from school.

 After more than a two-months long holiday, which Dunya spent mostly at home with her younger sisters Sana, five, and Sama, three, studying English and Dari with a tutor, she is excited to see her friends again.

Deteriorating security in the Afghan capital, where Taliban and  Islamic State militants  have launched multiple deadly attacks in recent months, has further restricted the freedom of many children.

Dunya and Sama are among more than eight million children enrolled in schools across Afghanistan this year, education ministry figure show.

Around 40 percent are girls.

But 3.5 million other school-age children will miss out due to school closures, grinding conflict and poverty. [Agencies]