Xinhua, April 26, 2009

Three dozen girl students were poisoned in Afghanistan

A local witness at the site said that an unknown person threw a bottle inside the compound which caused the problem.

KABUL -- Three dozen girl students were poisoned in Parwan province 70 km north of Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, Ahmad Farid Rahid a spokesman of Public Health Ministry said.

"There was a ceremony at the compound of Sadiqi Padshah Girl School in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, today and suddenly 36 students, one police and one teacher got unconscious, all of whom were taken to hospital," Rahid told Xinhua.

Doctors at the hospital diagnosed the problem as poisoning but added they are in stable condition.

The students have strong headache with tear shedding from their eyes, he further said.

Meantime, a local witness at the site said that an unknown person threw a bottle inside the compound which caused the problem.

No one has been arrested so far in this regard.

Previously in effort to prevent girls from schooling, unknown armed men splashed acid to the faces of several girl students in Taliban birthplace Kandahar of southern Afghanistan on November 2008.

Characters Count: 1185