Nearly 80 primary-school-aged girls have been hospitalized after two poisoning attacks were carried out in northern Afghanistan.
Nearly 80 primary-school-aged girls have been hospitalized after two poisoning attacks were carried out in northern Afghanistan.
60 students were poisoned in Naswan-e-kabod Aab School, and 17 in the neighbouring Naswan-e-Faisabad School in the Sar-E Pol district on Saturday and Sunday.
Mohammad Rahmani, the head of the provincial education department, provided little information on the nature of the girls’ injuries or how they were poisoned.
The ages of victims were not provided, but Rahmani said that they were in grades one to six.
“Both primary schools are near to each other and were targeted one after the other,” said Rahmani.
“We shifted the students to hospital and now they are all fine.”
Investigations into the attacks is ongoing, but initial inquiries indicate that “someone with a grudge” paid a third party to carry out the attacks, said Rahmani.
Den Mohammad Nazari, spokesperson for the local police, said that no arrests have been made.
“Some unknown people entered a girls’ school in Sancharak District … and poisoned the classes, when the girls come to classes they got poisoned,” said Nazari.
The attacks seem to be the first of their kind in Afghanistan, however, neighbouring Iran has seen similar incidents repeatedly occurring since November last year.
Since then, an estimated 13,000 girls have been victims of targeted poison attacks.
It is speculated that religious extremists are responsible for the recurrent poisonings, however, the inaction of authorities has led many to question the government’s position on the attacks.
In March, it was reported that 110 suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, however, none were identified, indicted or tried.
In Afghanistan, which has been under Taliban rule since 2021, the rights of women are severely restricted.
Women are barred from most jobs and public spaces, and girls are banned from pursuing education beyond the sixth grade.
Taliban officials made no statement on the poisonings and were not available for comment in response to the EU’s demand for an investigation.
The EU urged authorities act on their obligations under international law to protect the population.
“Right to education is the human right of all children, everywhere,” said the EU’s statement.
“Schools need to be safe places for all children.”
