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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Woman Poisoned Afghan Schoolgirls So They Wouldn’t Attend School |
| 2004-05-03 |
| The Afghan president has blamed "terrorist elements" for the poisoning of three schoolgirls in the eastern province of Khost. Hamid Karzai said they were poisoned by people opposed to girls attending school .... He said the girls were in critical condition. However, a local official told AP news agency that they had recovered. The official said the incident happened five or six days ago outside the city of Khost’s only girls’ school. "A woman gave poisoned fruit powder to the girls and told them to mix it with water and drink it," he said. "After a couple of minutes, they were unconscious." Reports say a woman has been arrested in connection with the attack. Correspondents say extremists have mounted arson attacks on girls’ schools in the past, but direct attacks on students are rare. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |