Up to 150 Afghan schoolgirls were poisoned after drinking contaminated water in an apparent attack blamed on conservative extremists opposed to girls’ education.
The girls needed hospital treatment after they were overcome by headaches and vomiting. Local government officials in the northern province of Takhar immediately blamed their illness on deliberate poisoning.
No one took responsibility for the attack in the town of Rustaq and officials did not name any suspects.
Jan Mohammad Nabizada, a spokesman for Takhar’s education department, told the Reuters news agency: “We are 100 per cent sure that the water they drunk inside their classes was poisoned.
“This is either the work of those who are against girls’ education or irresponsible armed individuals.”
The Taliban banned girls’ education during the late 1990s and its resurgence in the past decade is often cited as proof of progress in the country since their regime was driven out in 2001. The militants have since attacked schools and even thrown acid in girls’ faces as they went to classes. But Kabul last year claimed the movement had dropped its opposition to girls’ schooling as a prelude to entering peace talks.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the incident was a reminder of the need to retain hard-earned human rights in Afghanistan as security duties were handed over to Kabul.
Afghanistan saw a string of mysterious poisonings in girls’ schools in 2009, mainly in areas not considered Taliban strongholds. At the time Afghan officials blamed the symptoms on airborne chemical agents or hysteria.
Abdul Saboor, a spokesman for the education department in Kabul, cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
He said: “We think it is a small incident, but we are continuing our investigations.”