Ministry of Education Urges School Attackers to Stop

The Afghan Ministry of Education said that the school poisoning in Takhar Wednesday was the work of the enemies of Afghanistan and called on those responsible to cease their attacks.

Deputy Minister of Education Asef Nang urged the Taliban and any other insurgents to stop attacking schools and students and to allow children their freedom to receive an education.

Wednesday's incident in northern Takhar province saw as many as 100 school girls from Bibi Hajera high school in the provincial capital Taluqan poisoned with what appears to be an air-borne material, and sent to hospital.

The incident was the second of its type in Takhar and at least the fourth in Afghanistan this year.

"Such incidents are so worrying," Nang told TOLOnews Thursday. "Whether it's school burnings or student poisonings, the enemies of Afghanistan and education are behind such incidents."

"We can't specifically pin this on either the Taliban or Hezb-e-Islami unless they claim the responsibility, but I say it's the job of the enemies of education."

The officials at the Ministry of Education said that up to 500 schools are currently closed because of insurgents threats in provinces across the country, including Kandahar, Helmand Zabul Nangarhar, Takhar, and Ghazni.

Nang called on those who oppose the government to stop preventing Afghan children from attending school because education will ultimately lead to prosperity in the country and end the dependency of the Afghan people on international donors.

"I call on the enemies of education to let humans have their God-given right to get an education. We want to bring prosperity to Afghanistan and end the dependency of Afghans through education."

Afghan security officials recently said that the Haqqani network and the Mullah Daadullah Front were trying to promote fear among the people and create instability through poisoning students and burning schools.

Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said that it has intercepted an order from a meeting of insurgents in Pakistan to torch schools.

Girls' schools are more frequently targeted than the boys' because the militant Isalmists believe that females should not receive a school education.

Despite the challenges, more than nine million Afghan children are attending schools, four million of whom are female students. There are nearly 70,000 female teachers all over the country.