After cases in Iran: Poisoning of Afghan schoolgirls suspected

Status: 05.06.2023 3:07 p.m

In northern Afghanistan, numerous schoolchildren may have been the victims of a poison attack. Almost 90 children – most of them girls – complained of shortness of breath and nausea. Some of them were hospitalized.

According to the authorities, there has been a poisoning attack at two schools in Afghanistan. As Omair Saripuli, director of the information authority in the northern Afghan province of Sar-i Pul, told the dpa news agency, almost 90 children – most of them girls – complained of symptoms such as shortness of breath and nausea on Saturday. According to his own statement, Saripuli suspects poisoning.

Evidence of possible traces of poison was not previously known. According to Saripuli, no suspects have been arrested in connection with the incidents. authorities determined.

Three teachers and another employee at one of the schools and a father were also affected, Saripuli continued. Some of the children were taken to the hospital. Her condition is stable. In addition, there were symptoms such as watery eyes and runny noses in the school children. The foreign-based news channel Amu TV showed affected school children in a video in a clinic.

The situation of women in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly since the Taliban took power.
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different information on those affected

According to the Reuters news agency, the police in the province of 60 hospitalized girls. A police spokesman said that strangers had entered the school. When the girls came to class, they were poisoned. The police are said not to have commented on what poison was used – nor on who could be behind the attack.

The Afghan news channel Tolo News had spoken of 77 affected students at two schools late on Sunday evening, citing the director of the education authority, Mohammad Rahmani. According to Tolo News, Rahmani also suspected possible poisoning as the cause.

Khamenei calls for “severe penalties” for those responsible. The White House is calling for an independent investigation.
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Series of suspected poison attacks in neighboring Iran

In recent months there have been reports of a series of poisoning attacks on girls’ schools in Afghanistan’s neighboring Iran. Thousands of schoolgirls have fallen ill since November. Some politicians have suggested the girls may have been targeted by religious groups opposed to girls’ education. In Iran, however, schoolgirls had also taken part in anti-government protests that began after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

In Afghanistan, there have been repeated attacks on schoolgirls in the past, often by unknown perpetrators, even before the Taliban took power. Poison gas is also said to have been used.

Since taking power again in August 2021, the Taliban have closed girls’ schools from the seventh grade.

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