Policeman guarding polio team shot dead in Mardan

Gunmen opened fire on a polio team in Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing a policeman and injuring another on Wednesday.

The polio team came under attack in Musam Korona in the outskirts of Mardan when the team was busy in door-to-door anti-polio vaccination.

The attackers riding a motorcycle fled after the incident.

It is the second attack on polio team in the same area. In February in which a policeman was shot dead while protecting a polio vaccination team on the outskirts of Mardan.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The authorities blame Taliban for such attacks.

Taliban have banned polio vaccination in Waziristan tribal region as protest against the U.S. drone strikes. They also say that the polio team could spy on the militants.

Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only countries where polio is endemic. Polio cases in Pakistan hit 198 in 2011, the highest figure for more than a decade and the most of any country in the world, according to the UN.

The police had resumed guarding the teams after the February attack.

The authorities suspended the campaign after the Wednesday’s attack.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Apr 10 2013. 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.