Attacks on polio teams: World Health Organization stops field work in Pakistan

As a continuity of the orchestrated attack on polio campaigning teams, the World Health Organization (WHO) has directed its field staff to stop work in Pakistan.

At least two people were killed and two others were injured when three teams involved in the nationwide polio vaccination drive were attacked in Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A woman from a polio vaccination team and a driver associated with the program were killed during the attack on the team in Charsadda.

Earlier, reports had stated that a bystander was injured when unknown gunmen fired at the polio team in Charsadda.

In another incident, one volunteer was injured during the attack on a polio team in Peshawar. The injured worker was shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital for treatment. The attack took place in Peshawar’s Khazana area when unknown assailants fired at the team.

Separately, gunmen attacked a polio team working in Nowshera but no casualties were reported from that attack.

In the wake of the latest attacks on anti-polio workers, the WHO directed its field staff to halt work in Pakistan. The field staff should stop its work until further instructions, the WHO said.

Earlier on Tuesday, five health workers involved in the vaccination drive were killed in the cities of Karachi and Peshawar. Four women were killed in less than an hour in seemingly coordinated attacks in Karachi.

A fifth worker, also a woman, was killed in the northwestern city of Peshawar. The five workers were killed a day after a man working on a local government- WHO project was shot dead in Karachi.

Spokesperson Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, but efforts to tackle the highly infectious crippling disease have been hampered over the years by local suspicion.

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Posted by Web Desk on Dec 19 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.