The Afghan Girls Robotics Team works on their robot at a 2017 competition in Washington. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team works on their robot at a 2017 competition in Washington. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team made headlines in 2017 when they came to Washington for an international competition just a few blocks from the White House. Most members of the team were born after the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, symbolizing a new Afghanistan where girls were free to go to school and women were getting at least some opportunities that had been long denied. But with the Taliban back, the future of these girls -- some of them now young women -- has turned precarious.

A robotics team comprised of six girls from Afghanistan will enter a robot in an international competition in Washington, after clearing visa obstacles that prompted intervention from President Donald Trump.

An all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan that was denied a visa to participate in the First Global Challenge robotics competition will be allowed to enter the US after all. The White House confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversed the visa denials for the six teen girls, reportedly after President Trump personally intervened. The initial rejection and denial of an appeal was particularly heartbreaking for the team. They twice made a 500 mile trip from their Herat homes to the US embassy in Kabul to ace their interviews and secure the visas, despite danger and extreme heat. "We just wanted to show the power and skills of Afghan girls to Americans," 14-year-old Fatema Ghaderyan told the Associated Press.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed details of the reversal Wednesday, ending a saga that had sparked international backlash. The decision by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services means the six girls from the war-torn country will be allowed in, along with their chaperone, so they can participate in the competition.

US officials have decided to allow a group of Afghan girls - whose visa applications had been twice rejected - to travel to the country and participate in an international robotics competition, ending a saga that had sparked international backlash. Homeland Security Department spokesman David Lapan said the US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved a State Department request for six girls from the war-torn country to be allowed in, along with their chaperone, so they can participate in the competition. The non-profit organising the competition celebrated the reversal in a statement on Wednesday. "I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences," said Joe Sestak, the president of First Global. He credited "the professional leadership of the US State Department" for ensuring that all 163 teams from 157 countries, including a team of Syrian refugees, would be able to participate.