According to various media sources, between two and fifteen girls from Kandahar, Afghanistan were hospitalized after being dowsed with acid from water guns while walking to school on 12 November. A number of the children were blinded. The attack caused some parents to decide not to send their children to school for fear of similar reprisals from the unknown attackers. In fact, the principal of the Mirwais Mena girls’ school, Mehmood Qaderi, said that no girls went to school the next day.
Afghan officials blamed the Taliban for the attacks. This has not been confirmed, but three people have been arrested. Some speculate that the attackers were opposed to girls' education. Attacks like these occur regularly throughout the country.
Compiled from: Najibullah, Farangis, Afghan Schoolgirls Blinded in Acid Attack, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (13 November 2008); Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan, CNN (15 November 2008); Acid attack on Afghan schoolgirls, BBC News (12 November 2008).