KABUL – The poisoning of more than 100 female students in Rostaq District, Takhar Province, April 17 shows that militants are still intent on blocking Afghan girls from getting an education, officials from the Afghan Ministry of Education said.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the action, provincial officials suspect the Taliban, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported April 18.
“The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to prevent girls' education in every way possible, using all kinds of pretexts,” said Amanullah Iman, a Ministry of Education spokesman.
“The enemies of Afghanistan conduct such practices anonymously because they have no Islamic religious excuses for preventing the students’ education,” Iman told Central Asia Online.
This is not the first time that Afghan girls have been mysteriously poisoned at schools. In April 2010 suspected food and water poisoning affected 80 girls, and in August 2010 toxic gas was released into a girls’ school. In both attacks students were sickened, but no fatalities were reported.
![Afghan schoolgirls receive treatment at a hospital after being poisoned in Kabul in August 2010. More than 100 female students were poisoned in Takhar Province April 17. [REUTERS/Omar Sobhani]](http://www.centralasiaonline.com/shared/images/2012/04/19/afpoison.jpg)
Afghan schoolgirls receive treatment at a hospital after being poisoned in Kabul in August 2010. More than 100 female students were poisoned in Takhar Province April 17. [REUTERS/Omar Sobhani]
“The enemies of Afghanistan are trying to prevent girls' education in every way possible, using all kinds of pretexts,” said Amanullah Iman, a Ministry of Education spokesman.
“The enemies of Afghanistan conduct such practices anonymously because they have no Islamic religious excuses for preventing the students’ education,” Iman told Central Asia Online.
This is not the first time that Afghan girls have been mysteriously poisoned at schools. In April 2010 suspected food and water poisoning affected 80 girls, and in August 2010 toxic gas was released into a girls’ school. In both attacks students were sickened, but no fatalities were reported.
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