Women had no right to education under the fundamentalist Taleban

A United Nations official said the impoverished nation, which is only now emerging from isolation, had a real chance to catch up with the rest of the modern world.

Among the 17 graduates are six young women, one of whom described their achievement as a message to Afghan women as a whole after years of educational discrimination.

"My message for all Afghan women is to try as much as possible to learn about computers because it is essential for every man and woman to be aware of this global technology," said 23-year-old Rita Dorani.

They now have the tools to make a difference at home Ercan Murat UN Development Programme

"Men should allow women to learn this technology."

Under the Taleban Islamic fundamentalist regime, ousted in 2001, women were banned from all forms of education.

President Hamid Karzai has relaxed the restrictions but women's rights are still significantly curtailed in Afghanistan, especially in the provinces.

Leapfrogging the decades

Ms Dorani and her fellow students received industry-standard certificates in computer networking skills after completing a UN-supervised programme largely funded by computer giant Cisco Systems.

By the end of this year, the programme aims to have trained up 200 students.

"This graduating class will mark history for Afghanistan," said Ercan Murat, country director for the UN Development Programme.

"They are the first highly trained computer specialists in Afghanistan who were trained here in their own country. They now have the tools to make a difference at home."

The BBC's Catherine Davis says the programme's state-of-the-art technology stands out in a university where most classrooms are spartan and patched up.

Knut Ostby, UNDP deputy director for Afghanistan, suggested that starting from scratch could be a distinct advantage for Afghanistan.

"It is giving Afghanistan some tremendous opportunities in terms of skipping a number of intermediate steps and going straight to the state-of-the-art technology of today," he said.

"The class that is graduating today is part of the force that will help Afghanistan leapfrog straight into the 21st century."

For Nabila Akbari, 18, graduating means she can share her knowledge "with other Afghans, especially Afghan women".