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Dozens of Afghan schoolgirls taken to hospital



Up to 74 girls in Afghanistan have been treated after a suspected poisoning attack at their school, officials said yesterday.


The girls became ill after smelling gas at their school, Bibi Maryam, in Takhar province's capital, Taluqan.


Many of the children remained in a critical condition in hospital last night.




Up to 74 girls fell ill after smelling gas at their school in a suspected poisoning attack in northern Afghanistan





Several of the girls remain in a critical condition after the latest suspected attack on women in education

The Ministry of Public Health is investigating and samples of the victims' blood have been sent for testing.


Sulaiman Moradi, Takhar governor's spokesman, said the attack was to try to prevent girls from going to school.





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He said 'enemies of the government and the country' were to blame for the mass illness.


There have been numerous substantiated cases of mass poisonings of schoolgirls in Afghanistan by ultra-conservatives who oppose giving women access to education.


The girls in Takhar, about 155 miles north of Kabul, were taken to a provincial hospital.


Most were released after being treated but Dr Jamil Frotan, head of the hospital, said several victims remained in a critical condition yesterday.




Numerous attacks on girls' schools have been reported in Afghanistan by ultra-conservatives who oppose women's education. Girls began learning in school after the Taliban were ousted in 2001 (file picture)

PRICE OF EDUCATION: THE DAILY THREAT GIRLS FACE AT SCHOOL



Twelve years after the Taliban were ousted and female education became legal, attacks on girl students, their teachers and school buildings continue.

Such is the concern over the number of attacks, that in 2011 President Hamid Karzai urged the Taliban to stop targeting schools.

Last year, 160 schoolgirls were hospitalised after their classrooms were sprayed with a toxic gas in a suspected Taliban attack.

The girls, aged between ten and 20-years-old, complained of headaches, vomiting and dizziness, with scores left unconscious.

Teachers and guards in many schools are so wary of poisoning that they test the water and air quality each morning before allowing the pupils inside.

Two years ago, 185 attacks on schools and hospitals were recorded in the country - many of them targeting girls' schools.

Acid attacks on girls walking to school have also been known in Afghanistan.

In 2009, three teams of men on motorbikes sprayed acid from water bottles on pupils and teachers.


He said: 'We have already sent samples of their blood to the Ministry of Public Health and it will soon become clear what the reason for their illness was.'

The apparent poisoning came three days after more than a dozen students fell ill in another girls' high school in Taluqan.


No-one has claimed responsibility for either incident.

Four poisoning attacks on a girls' school in Takhar were reported between May and June last year prompting local officials to order principals to stay in school until late.


Staff were also told to search the grounds for suspicious objects and to test the water.

Takhar has been a hotbed of militancy and criminal activity since 2009, with groups such as the Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan active.

The Taliban banned education for women and girls but since they were ousted in 2001, females have returned to schools, especially in the capital city Kabul.


Afghan women have won back basic rights in education, voting and employment since 2001.


However, fears are growing that such gains could be traded away as Western forces prepare to leave and the Afghan government seeks peace talks with the Taliban.

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