Afghan police question school workers over poisoning
From Masoud Popalzai, CNN
April 18, 2012 — Updated 1439 GMT (2239 HKT)
Afghan girls poisoned at school
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- At least 171 Afghan girls and female teachers were admitted to a local hospital
- Their drinking water had been poisoned, health officials say
- Officials blame extremists opposed to women’s education
- In 2010, more than 100 schoolgirls and teachers were sickened in similar poisonings
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) — Afghan police are questioning two school caretakers after more than 170 women and girls were hospitalized with suspected poisoning, a district official said Wednesday.
Police took the school employees into custody in the town of Rostaq, district administrator Moelam Hussein said.
Local health officials blamed the act on extremists opposed to women’s education.
A total of 171 women and girls were hospitalized Tuesday, and four remained semi-conscious in the hospital Wednesday, Dr. Hafizullah Safi said.
Some 25 women and girls returned to the hospital Wednesday morning, complaining of more stomach pains, fever and vomiting. They were given medication and released, said Safi, the provincial health department director.
A sample of the water from the school was taken and had been sent to Kabul for testing, but it will take several days for the results.
The victims range in age from 14 to 30 and were taken to a hospital in Afghanistan’s northeastern Takhar province after their school’s water tank was contaminated, according to Safi.
No deaths were reported, but more than half the victims partially lost consciousness, while others suffered dizziness and vomiting.
“Looking at the health condition of these girls, I can definitely say that their water was contaminated by some sort of poison,” Safi said. “But we don’t know yet what was the water exactly contaminated with.”
Taliban say they trained attackers
“It is the work of those who are against girls’ education and peace and stability in Afghanistan,” district administrator Hussain said.
In 2010, more than 100 schoolgirls and teachers were sickened in a series of similar poisonings.
During the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001, many Afghan girls were not allowed to attend school, though the schools began reopening after the regime was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion.
Observers say, however, that abuse of women remains common in the post-Taliban era and is often accepted in conservative and traditional families, where women are barred from education and commonly subjected to domestic violence.
Australia to accelerate withdrawal
In January 2011, Afghan Education Minister Dr. Farooq Wardak told the Education World Forum in London that the Taliban had abandoned their opposition to girls’ education. But the group never offered a statement confirming or denying that claim.
Female educational facilities, students and teachers, meanwhile, have come under vicious attack as the insurgency has spread outside Taliban strongholds in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.
The country maintains one of the world’s youngest populations. Officials say literacy rates among both children and adults remain low.
Part of complete coverage on
Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives his first interview since the massacre of 17 Afghan villagers last month and on the heels of the outbreak of spring fighting.
April 17, 2012 — Updated 1410 GMT (2210 HKT)
When Afghan forces repelled a barrage attacks from insurgents near Kabul’s green zone over the weekend it was hailed as proof of how far local security forces had come.
April 16, 2012 — Updated 1446 GMT (2246 HKT)
The mantra now is “Afghan-led,” NATO’s bid to make this an Afghan-only war. But the Afghan soldiers from the north are strangers almost as foreign as the Americans.
April 17, 2012 — Updated 0343 GMT (1143 HKT)
The performance of Afghan forces in reacting to recent attacks shows the country’s security situation will not deteriorate when NATO forces leave, President Karzai says.
Afghanistan’s president said the attacks this weekend in his country represent a “serious intelligence failure” by NATO and other allies.
April 16, 2012 — Updated 1401 GMT (2201 HKT)
Nick Paton Walsh accompanied U.S. and Afghan forces on a manhunt for most-wanted militants in the Taliban heartland.
The recent Taliban attacks were on balance of only modest effectiveness (at most), and were suppressed almost entirely by Afghan forces, says author Michael O’Hanlon.
April 16, 2012 — Updated 1359 GMT (2159 HKT)
Ex-CIA field commander Gary Berntsen says Afghan security forces are stepping up and meeting challenges.
April 8, 2012 — Updated 1713 GMT (0113 HKT)
The United States and Afghanistan signed a landmark deal Sunday that affords Afghan authorities an effective veto over controversial special operations raids.
Originally from: