Afghan school girls attend a class at an open-air primary school in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province in May this year, almost two years after their right to education were reduced. AFP
Afghan school girls attend a class at an open-air primary school in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province in May this year, almost two years after their right to education were reduced. AFP
Afghan school girls attend a class at an open-air primary school in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province in May this year, almost two years after their right to education were reduced. AFP
Afghan school girls attend a class at an open-air primary school in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province in May this year, almost two years after their right to education were reduced. AFP

Girls poisoned in attack on primary schools in Afghanistan


Mina Aldroubi
  • English
  • Arabic

Dozens of girls in two primary schools have been poisoned in a targeted attack in Afghanistan, an education official has said.

77 students were hospitalised in two separate attacks in the north of the country.

Mohammad Rahmani, the director of the provincial department of education, said the attacks took place among female pupils in grades 1 through 6 in the Sar-e-Pul province over Saturday and Sunday.

60 students from Naswan-e-Kabod Aab School and 17 from Naswan-e-Faizabad School were poisoned.

“Both primary schools are near to each other and were targeted one after the other,” he said on Sunday.

“We shifted the students to the hospital and now they are all fine.”

Since the Taliban swept to power in August 2021, there has been a crackdown on the rights and freedoms of Afghan females.

Girls in the country are banned from education beyond sixth grade, including university, and women are barred from most jobs and public spaces.

Mr Rahmani said that early investigations showed that someone with a grudge paid a third party to carry out the attacks.

The education official did not give details on how the girls were poisoned, or the nature of their injuries.

Neighbouring Iran has been rocked by a wave of poisonings, mostly in girls' schools, dating back to last November.

Thousands of students said they were sickened by noxious fumes in the incidents, but there has been no indication of what might be behind the incidents or what if any, chemicals have been used.

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

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Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

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Industry: E-grocery

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Updated: June 05, 2023, 7:32 AM`