WASHINGTON, DC - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) released the following statement today in response to news reports of extremists conducting poison attacks on girls schools in Afghanistan:
"I am deeply troubled by reports of poison attacks on school girls in Afghanistan, endangering hundreds of students and teachers. Today's attack on girls in a school in Kapisa province follows two recent attacks on school girls in the nearby town of Charikar in Parvan province. This should be a wake-up call that girls and women in Afghanistan are still under physical threat and their security must be a top priority. Girls in Afghanistan should not have to risk their lives just to attend school. This is non-negotiable. My thoughts are with these brave young girls, their families, their teachers and principals, and I commend their courage for continuing to go to school. I urge the Afghan authorities to do all they can to stop these horrific attacks on innocent children."