Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan

Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan
Story Highlights
Men on motorcycle spray girls with acid from squirt guns, military says

No one claims responsibility, but network says Taliban suspected

Girls were prohibited from going to school under Taliban regime

Top U.S. commander calls insurgents "dishonorable"


KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two men on a motorcycle used water pistols to spray acid on girls walking to school Wednesday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, blinding at least two of them, military spokesmen said.


An Afghan schoolgirl sits in a hospital Wednesday after being sprayed with acid in Kandahar, Afghanistan.



U.S. Col. Greg Julian said Afghanistan's National Military Command Center told him that four girls were hurt in the incident. Two were blinded and remain hospitalized, and two were treated and released, he said.

The men escaped after the attack, and no one claimed responsibility for it, but Arab-language network Al-Jazeera said Taliban militants were suspected to be responsible.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. near Mirwais Nika Girls High School in the Meir Weis Mena district.

Kandahar government spokesman Parwaz Ayoubi gave different figures on the number of girls injured, saying six were burned, one of them severely. He called the attackers "enemies of education."

Girls were forbidden to attend school under the Taliban, which ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, when U.S.-led forces removed them from power.

According to Al-Jazeera, the girls were attacked with battery acid. Two teenage sisters, one of whom suffered serious burns, were among the victims.
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