Girls in Afghanistan were poisoned for attempting to get an education.

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KABUL, Afghanistan, May 12 (UPI) -- Doctors were investigating whether school girls were poisoned in a northern Afghanistan city after 61 girls were taken to a hospital, a doctor said.

Dr. Khalil Farangi, director of Charikar's hospital, said 61 students and one teacher from a high school in the city complained Monday of symptoms such as irritability, weeping and confusion, and several girls fainted, PakTribune reported Tuesday.

The hospitalizations Monday occurred about two weeks after a similar incident in Parwan, where dozens of girls were hospitalized after becoming ill from what Afghan officials said were strong fumes or possible poison gas cloud.

The Taliban and other conservative extremist groups in Afghanistan oppose education for girls, who were not allowed to attend school under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/12/Afghan-girls-poisoning-being-probed/UPI-84721242156944/