Afghanistan: A local education official from Afghanistan said that nearly 80 girls were poisoned and hospitalised in two separate attacks at their primary schools in northern Afghanistan.
He also said that the person who produced the poisoning had a personal grudge but did not elaborate. The attacks occurred in Sar-e-Pul province of Afghanistan on Saturday and Sunday.
This is the first time in history that this kind of assault has happened since the Taliban swept to power in August 2021 and began their crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls.
Even the Taliban government banned women from education beyond sixth grade, including university. Not only this, but also they are barred from almost every job and public space.
According to Mohammad Rahmani, the poisonings happened in Sangcharak district, and Mohammad Rahmani is the one who leads the education department. He said 60 students were poisoned in Naswan-e-Kabod Aab school and 17 others poisoned in Naswan-e-Faizabad school.
He told the media that both schools were near each other and were targeted one after the other. Further, he also said they sent the students to the hospital, and now they all are fine and out of danger.
Moreover, the investigation is going on, and initial inquiries indicate that someone who had grudges did this, as said by Rahmani.
However, there is no such information on how the girls were poisoned or the reason for the injuries. Rahmanu did not share the girls’ ages but said they were one to six students.
Neighbouring Iran has been shocked by a wave of poisonings, mostly girls in school. They also shared one of the incidents of 2022 November in which thousands of students fell sick by noxious fumes. However, there is no information on who was behind the incident or what chemicals were used.
