Poisoned or petrified?

The Taliban has burned down scores of girls schools in recent years. It is now accused of mass poisonings but UN and Nato tests show no trace of poison and some suggest the symptoms are psychosomatic, writes Matthieu Aikins

MAY 23 started out much like any other day at the government- run Bibi Hajira girls’ school. In contrast with other parts of Afghanistan, life tends to be relatively tranquil here in Taloqan, the capital of the northern border province of Takhar.

But at about 7.30am, as the girls of class 12A were taking an early- morning break, their classmate Seddiqa, the principal’s daughter, walked into the room and fainted. Her friends managed to catch her before she hit the floor.