Arrests Made in Acid Attack on Afghan Schoolgirls

Ten Taliban insurgents have been arrested in the case of an acid attack against schoolgirls that took place in November outside of the Mirwais Nika Girls High School in the southern city of Kandahar. In the attack, two men on motorcycles sprayed at least 15 Afghan girls and teachers who were walking to school with battery acid using toy squirt guns. During the Taliban regime, which was ousted in 2001, Afghan girls were forbidden to attend school.

The Taliban has denied involvement in this particular attack, but Afghanistan's Deputy Interior Minister, General Mohammad Daud, told the BBC that "the attack was the work of the Taliban" and that the attackers "were taking orders from the other side of the border [with Pakistan] from those who are leading terrorist attacks in Kandahar."

Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, has reportedly called for public execution of the perpetrators in this attack, according to the Independent. Public support in Afghanistan for capital punishment has grown in recent years. One of the teachers injured in the attack told the Independent that "If these people are found guilty, the government should throw the same acid on them. Then they should be hanged."

Media Resources: Feminist Daily Newswire 11/13/08; Al Jazeera 11/12/08; BBC 11/25/08; Agence France Presse 4/21/08; The Independent 11/26/08

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