Afghan School Attack: Students, Teachers Poisoned In Takhar Province

TALIQAN, Afghanistan, May 23 (Reuters) - More than 120 schoolgirls and three teachers have been poisoned in the second attack in as many months blamed on conservative radicals in the country's north, Afghan police and education officials said on Wednesday.

The attack occurred in Takhar province where police said that radicals opposed to education of women and girls had used an unidentified toxic powder to contaminate the air in classrooms. Scores of students were left unconscious.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), says the Taliban appear intent on closing schools ahead of a 2014 withdrawal by foreign combat troops.

"A part of their Al Farooq spring offensive operation is ... to close schools. By poisoning girls they want to create fear. They try to make families not send their children to school," NDS spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said.

Afghanistan's Ministry of Education said last week that 550 schools in 11 provinces where the Taliban have strong support had been closed down by insurgents.

Last month, 150 schoolgirls were poisoned in Takhar province after they drank contaminated water.

Since 2001 when the Taliban were toppled from power by U.S.-backed Afghan forces, females have returned to schools, especially in the capital Kabul. They were previously banned from work and education.

But there are still periodic attacks against students, teachers and school buildings, usually in the more conservative south and east of the country, from where the Taliban insurgency draws most of its support. (Reporting by Mohammad Hamid in Taliqan and Mirwais Harooni in Kabul; Editing by Rob Taylor and Jeremy Laurence)

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Roondog]

05:11 PM on 05/29/2012

Some of my followers, friends and fans may turn from me because of this statement. I am opposed to violence, prejudice, religious intolerance, bigotry, therefore I am opposed to the Taliban. They are a disease that needs to be cauterized. They are a rodent infestation that needs to be eradicated. I would prefer that they be teleported to another planet but Scottie is not with us today. Isn't / Wasn't that our mission in going to Afghanistan in the first place? Is this problem anywhere near containment? If we leave this year, within 3 months they will lapse back into Taliban let tribal rule. The female population will drop by a significant % as the round up any female that has learned to read and kill her. With in two years the only sign that we were ever there will be the blown up, rusting hulk of our destroyed military vehicles about the country. Like the English and Russians before us. Will we leave in failure?

The only reason that we have been in Afghanistan for so long is because of the Bush shift in policy. He told the world about WMD while actually coveting Iraqi oil. Had we stayed the course we might be looking at a better future for that sad country. Only dog knows what we will do about Pakistan?

[Lisa Stitzel Brown]

01:36 PM on 05/25/2012

And people complain about how horrible it is here in the U.S. Maybe they could all go live in Afghanistan and maybe they will appreciate the life they have here a little more.

[Roondog]

07:12 PM on 05/29/2012

Go on the Huffpost Search engine and look up Rev. Charles Worley Mothers day sermon. Then get back to me. Some people are alive only because its against the law to kill them. What's a little Holocaust every now and then.

[Lisa Karadin Valley]

01:23 PM on 05/25/2012

This makes me sick. So much progress had been made in the building of schools for the purpose of educating Afghan girls and American Greg Mortenson must be mortified and heartbroken at this news. His hard work and dedication based on a promise he made to some Afghan village leaders back in the 80's to build schools so the children would have a safe environment in which to learn is now a distant memory. I'm positive the majority of the schools that were either shut down or destroyed since the Taliban came back into power were constructed by his CAI Institute, a collaborative effort of Americans and Afghans working together to better the future of children, and especially the girls. Every brick or stone laid symbolized stability in an otherwise unstable country and the promise of a brighter future for Afghan girls. Now, with this recent incident, their futures are more uncertain than ever.

[nova1215]

11:52 PM on 05/24/2012

It is incredible the fear some men have of women's power to go to such lengths to cripple women's rights.

[FaceReality2]

11:46 PM on 05/24/2012

We could offer every Afghan woman and girl asylum in the U.S. It would be cheaper than the war.

[FaceReality2]

11:38 PM on 05/24/2012

Give every woman and girl in Afghanistan a pistol. They know who to kill.

[taylor5]

06:13 PM on 05/24/2012

This sounds like alabama or Mississippi

[BustMyCh0ps]

09:25 PM on 05/24/2012

No .... this sounds like a muslim majority country.

[transe]

10:52 AM on 05/25/2012

no, this would have been any place in the rural south about 100 years ago. if someone is educated, they question not being treated right.

[mabinog]

04:28 PM on 05/24/2012

Any individual or group or nation that wishes to curb or limit education anywhere is lover of tyranny and seeks to control others.

[napoleon68]

04:10 PM on 05/24/2012

funny how religious radicals every where are so alike. here in the u.s., we had a pastor in north carolina this week basically advocating for concentration camps for lesbians and gay men. please god, save me from those who profess to follow you!

[StopMakingSense2]

04:04 PM on 05/24/2012

They say poisoned but don't make it clear if we are talking sickened or dead... Obviously both are bad but one is worse. No matter where you go conservatives are hard at work keeping people stupid and looking for ways to exploit them. Afghanistan has the Taliban and we have republicans! Both like tearing things down and build nothing.

[Tanya Nguyn]

11:40 PM on 05/24/2012

Actually, they did say. It left the girls sick, with some 50-75 fully unconcious.
their goal is to terrorize, not kill. yet.

[phal4875]

02:15 PM on 05/24/2012

Situations like this can lead to at least two opposing views: We need to help these folks, or these people are beyond saving.

[Burt65]

03:05 PM on 05/24/2012

Agreed. The problem with the former option is that various and sundry western powers (and the USSR) have been trying to invade the country and change the culture for centuries with virtually nothing but dead soldiers and empty coffers to show for it. The only sensible place to start is to somehow try to show the populace of the country a viable alternative paradigm to that of radical Islam coupled with tribalism...but hunting down the Taliban using drones and killing innocent civilians in the meantime isn't going to achieve that goal. In fact, it is achieving the exact opposite.

[Dacktyl]

12:02 PM on 05/24/2012

Ahhhh! The wonders of religion!

Conservatives all over the world are nothing but anchors dragging society down.

[knc353]

05:27 PM on 05/24/2012

While sadomasachisticly sexual deviants in this society are raising it so high?

Fanatics are fanatics no matter which end of the spectrum they fall.

[wjhamilton29464]

11:45 AM on 05/24/2012

Every man in this country has a machine gun. Where are these girls Fathers and Brothers? Do they expect American's to defend their families? Are we supposed to sift through their villages trying to find the Taliban who tried to kill their daughters and sisters. Are they cowards?

[AngelaQuattrano]

04:04 PM on 05/24/2012

Their fathers are probably upset with uppity women, too.

[rickcraft55]

11:03 AM on 05/24/2012

I do not believe conservative is the correct word, I would have gone with religious fanatics myself

[Dacktyl]

12:01 PM on 05/24/2012

Naaaa... Truth hurts. "Conservative" is right on the money.

[Oblongato]

12:47 PM on 05/24/2012

Religious fanatics are nothing if not conservative.

[Radiohost]

10:44 AM on 05/24/2012

This is one of the most heinous abuses of Afghan women and girls including during the Taliban rule, which as we all know, is BACK whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. All these disgusting countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Egypt are cesspools. Every dollar and every life we give just sinks into the muck. Pull everybody out and keep an eye on them from the sky. When they look like they are seeping over their borders into the civilized world, drive them back into their black holes.

[wjhamilton29464]

11:46 AM on 05/24/2012

And hand every women in these primitive holes a loaded pistol as we leave.

[FaceReality2]

11:42 PM on 05/24/2012

I had the same idea. They are the only ones who know who to kill.

[Oblongato]

12:54 PM on 05/24/2012

Unfortunately, that punishes the victims and the perpetrators alike.