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AFGHANISTAN - ARRESTS AFTER ACID
ATTACK ON SCHOOLGIRLS
Police
in southern Afghanistan have arrested 10 men in connection with an acid attack
on schoolgirls earlier this month, officials say.
The men are
all Taleban insurgents and some have confessed to taking part in the attack,
the authorities say.
Several
girls received severe burns when acid was thrown in their faces on 12 November
in Kandahar city.
The Taleban
denied involvement in the attack, which brought condemnation from around the
world.
President
Hamid Karzai has called for those involved to be arrested and publicly
executed.
'Led by
the Taleban'
Deputy
Interior Minister Gen Mohammad Daud said the men had been arrested in recent
days.
"The
attack was the work of the Taleban and we have not finalised our
investigation," Gen Daud told reporters in Kandahar.
Gen Daud
said the men were Afghans who had travelled from Pakistan.
Some of the girls were
offered some protection by veils |
"They
were led by the Taleban," he said. "They were taking orders from the
other side of the border from those who are leading terrorist attacks in
Kandahar."
Kandahar
Governor Rahmatullah Raufi said the attackers had been paid up to $2,000
(£1,300) by the Taleban to carry out the attack.
He did not
say how many of the men had confessed. The men's names were not disclosed and
they were not shown to reporters.
At least 15
schoolgirls and female teachers had acid sprayed at them by two men on a
motorcycle near the Mirwais Nika Girls High School in Kandahar.
Officials
say the attackers used a toy gun to spray the acid and fled as soon as people
came to the assistance of the girls.
Most of the
victims suffered severe burns and at least one of them will have to have her
face and neck reconstructed by plastic surgery.
Some of the
girls were wearing Islamic burkas or veils which provided them with some
protection.
The attack
shocked ordinary Afghans.
Correspondents
say it is likely to have been carried out by those opposed to the education of
women.
The former
Taleban government, which was ousted in 2001, banned girls from attending
school.
A spokesman
for the movement denied having anything to do with the attack when it took
place two weeks ago.
But the
BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Kabul says many Afghans blame the Taleban for
continued arson attacks on girls' schools.
Only two
million girls attend school in Afghanistan, with many conservative families
still preferring to keep them at home despite a government push to encourage
female education, he says.
Hundreds of
schools - and students - have been attacked by insurgents in recent years.
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