“Gulnaz,” Pakistani female doctor, arrested over Afghan schoolgirl poisonings — reports

Local officials today said a Pakistani female doctor known as "Gulnaz" has been arrested over the believed poisoning of over 100 schoolgirls in Afghanistan's Takhar province over the past several weeks, reported Afghanistan's Khaama Press. 

Provincial official Mustafa Rasuli told the Afghan Islamic Press that the woman, identified as Gulnaz from the Punjab region, was detained along with 11 others suspected of being involved with the schoolgirls' illness, said the IANS news agency. 

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The woman was working at an Afghan clinic but did not have the necessary documentation to be a doctor operating in the country, according to Khaama Press.

Scores of schoolgirls in Takhar have fallen prey to repeated fainting spells and other symptoms thought triggered by poison, said The Telegraph.

The mysterious ailment first showed up in the region almost two months ago, with as many as 160 Takhar schoolgirls hospitalized in late May after being poisoned, reported CNN. 

Afghan authorities earlier accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of being behind the attacks, according to The Telegraph. 

The Taliban, which prohibited education for girls while in power from 1996 to 2001, has denied involvement, said BBC.