160 females at Afghan school poisoned

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KABUL, Afghanistan, May 29 (UPI) -- Hospitals in northern Afghanistan admitted 160 young females Tuesday after they were poisoned in their classroom with a spray, provisional police said.

Takhar provisional police spokesman Pol Khalilullah Aseer said the females, ages 10 to 20, complained of headaches, dizziness and vomiting before they were taken to the hospital, CNN reported.

The incident was reported at the Aahan Dara Girls School in Talokhan, the provisional capital. Last week, more than 120 girls and three teachers were hospitalized after a similar suspected poisoning, officials said.

"The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them going to school," Aseer said last week. "That's something we and the people believe. Now we are implementing democracy in Afghanistan and we want girls to be educated, but the government's enemies don't want this."

The Taliban has denied responsibility in the suspected poisonings, blaming NATO and U.S. officials and accusing them of trying to defame the militant organization.

The Taliban has been struggling with the country's government about Afghan schools and recently demanded that schools in two eastern provinces close, CNN reported.

Earlier this month, nearly 400 boys at a school in Khost province became ill after drinking water from a well a health official said could have been poisoned.