Sixty Afghan School Girls Hospitalized After Poisoning

Police reported on Monday that over 60 Afghan girls were hospitalized after being poisoned at their school in the north of the country.

Following heightened scrutiny of girls’ education in the war-torn country since the Taliban took over and barred the majority of teenage female pupils, as well as a wave of poison attacks on girls’ schools in neighboring Iran, the poisoning, which targeted a girls’ school in the Afghan province of Sar-e Pol, occurred.

Den Mohammad Nazari, a spokesman for Sar-e-Pol police, said, “Some unknown people entered a girls’… school in Sancharak District.. and poisoned the classes, when the girls come to classes they got poisoned,” without specifying what was used or who was believed to be responsible for the incident.

The girls had been rushed to the hospital, but according to Nazari, they were in “good condition.” Nobody had been detained.

Since assuming power in 2021, the Taliban regime has prohibited the majority of female students from enrolling in high schools and universities, drawing criticism from numerous Afghans and other nations. The Taliban government has allowed girls to attend primary schools until they are about 12 years old, and they support female education in specific circumstances.

While waiting for justice to be served, Mahnaz, the mother of a victimized student, denounced the act and urged the provincial government to find and punish those responsible.

Ali Agha Karbalai, the father of a different youngster, said that up to 80 students were afflicted and he was hoping for his daughter to recover quickly.

The locals said that 87 people, including 80 afflicted pupils, had been transported to the hospital on Sunday.

Since November, poisoning episodes at girls’ schools in the neighboring country of Iran have harmed an estimated 13,000 predominantly female students.

There had been multiple poisoning attacks, including alleged gas attacks, on girls’ schools during Afghanistan’s previous foreign-backed administration.