Dozens of girls were poisoned in two schools in northern Afghanistan

More than fifty primary school girls were poisoned last Saturday and another 26 students the next day in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul, the province’s director of information, Mufti Ameer, told EFE on Monday.

On Saturday, three teachers, a teacher, two janitors and a father of that school showed symptoms of poisoning, and on Sunday, four teachers of the second center showed symptoms of poisoning.

According to Amier, “all the girls taken to the hospital were suffering from nausea and breathing problems due to unknown persons spraying poison in their classrooms”, but their health condition is “good”.

Reuters news agency estimates that around 60 schoolchildren have been hospitalized after being poisoned at a school in Sar-e-Pul, Sancharak district, a provincial police spokesman said today. Dean Mohammad Nazari said that “several unknown persons entered the girls’ school (…), when the girls came to the classrooms, they were poisoned.” The injured were taken to hospital and their condition is “good”, he added.

The sources did not specify what substance was used or who might be behind the incidents, which are reminiscent of those in neighboring Iran, where some 13,000 female students have shown symptoms of poisoning since last November. By Reuters.

Girls in Afghanistan are barred from secondary and university education as part of a ban on women imposed by the Taliban since they returned to power in August 2021. The measure was adopted several months later and was met with protests and opposition from the Afghan side. students and the condemnation of the entire international community.

Girls can attend classes until the age of 12, and the Taliban government has kept primary schools open, albeit with certain rules.