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More Pakistani polio workers attacked
Source: Agencies |
December 20, 2012, Thursday
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THREE workers in a polio eradication campaign were shot in Pakistan yesterday, and two of them were killed, the latest in an unprecedented string of attacks over the past three days that has partially halted the UN-backed campaign.
The United Nations in Pakistan has pulled all staff involved in the immunization campaign off the streets, spokesman Michael Coleman said.
The government insisted immunization was continuing in some areas although many Pakistani health workers were refusing to go out.
Government officials were surprised by the violence, saying they had not expected attacks in areas far from the Taliban's strongholds and they would have to change tactics in the health campaign.
"We didn't expect such attacks in Karachi," said Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, minister for human rights, who oversees the polio campaign. He was referring to the southern commercial hub where there have been attacks this week.
Yesterday saw four separate attacks. In the northwestern district of Charsadda, men on motorbikes shot dead a woman and her driver, officials said.
Hours earlier, a male health worker was shot and badly wounded in the nearby provincial capital of Peshawar. Four other women health workers were shot at but not hit in nearby Nowshera while two women health workers were shot at in Dwasaro village in Charsadda, police said.
It was not clear who was behind the violence.
Many Islamists, including Taliban militants, have long opposed the campaign. Some say it aims to sterilize Muslims.
On Monday and Tuesday, six health workers were killed in attacks in the southern port city of Karachi and in Peshawar.
The United Nations in Pakistan has pulled all staff involved in the immunization campaign off the streets, spokesman Michael Coleman said.
The government insisted immunization was continuing in some areas although many Pakistani health workers were refusing to go out.
Government officials were surprised by the violence, saying they had not expected attacks in areas far from the Taliban's strongholds and they would have to change tactics in the health campaign.
"We didn't expect such attacks in Karachi," said Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, minister for human rights, who oversees the polio campaign. He was referring to the southern commercial hub where there have been attacks this week.
Yesterday saw four separate attacks. In the northwestern district of Charsadda, men on motorbikes shot dead a woman and her driver, officials said.
Hours earlier, a male health worker was shot and badly wounded in the nearby provincial capital of Peshawar. Four other women health workers were shot at but not hit in nearby Nowshera while two women health workers were shot at in Dwasaro village in Charsadda, police said.
It was not clear who was behind the violence.
Many Islamists, including Taliban militants, have long opposed the campaign. Some say it aims to sterilize Muslims.
On Monday and Tuesday, six health workers were killed in attacks in the southern port city of Karachi and in Peshawar.
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