By the CNN Wire Staff
About 60 schoolgirls in Afghanistan's Balkh province appear to have been poisoned and required hospitalization, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.
GHAZNI CITY, Jun 12, 2010: School girls being brought to a hospital after a suspected poisonous gas attack on their school in Ghazni City, the provincial capital, on Sunday. About 60 girls fell ill and some became unconscious in the incident, doctors say. (Photo: PAJHWOK/Shir Ahmad Haider)
The victims ranged in age from 9 to 14. Most suffered minor reactions, ministry spokesman Sakhi Kargan told CNN.
It's at least the third suspected poisoning of girls attending schools in Afghanistan this week.
Nearly 90 people were poisoned in attacks on three schools in April. There have been no known deaths to date in any of the attacks.
The Taliban banned girls from going to school when they ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Since girls' schools began reopening after the Taliban were overthrown, facilities, female students and teachers have been the victims of attacks.