11 held for poisoning students

TALOQAN (PAN-designated district chief and a woman, were detained for being involved in poisoning school students in northern Takhar province, officials said on Tuesday.

More than 500 students of several girls’ schools have been poisoned in the provincial capital Taloqan, Farkhar and Rostaq districts over the past month.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqub, Taliban’s head for Khwaja Ghar district, was arrested along with two others, including a woman, in Kunduz. Three others were held inside a girls’ school on the outskirts of Taloqan, said Mustafa Rasouli, the governor’s spokesman, who previously confirmed to Pajhwok the detention of seven suspects.

He said a four-member group that trafficked lethal substances from Kunduz to Takhar to poison the students was arrested by security forces. Another individual was nabbed as he tried to spray a hrmful chemical inside a classroom.

The woman was a Pakistani who introduced herself as a doctor, the gubernatorial spokesman said. In addition to the seven people, five others were picked up on Monday for investigations.

Meanwhile, a source in the National Directorate of Security (NDS) was behind poisoning the schoolchildren.

During a meeting with religious scholars, tribal elders and influential people, provincial officials announced a $2,000 (100,000 afs) reward for the capture of those involved in the crime.

An education ministry report recently revealed that more than 1,200 students, mostly girls, have been poisoned in Takhar, Khost, Balkh and Bamyan provinces.

mrh/vp/mud

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