Shooting took place during door-to-door vaccinations of children, with suspicion falling on militants who oppose the programme
Gunmen on motorbikes have shot and killed a police officer escorting polio workers during a UN-backed vaccination campaign in north-west Pakistan, police said.
The attack took place as dozens of health workers – including several women – were going door-to-door to vaccinate children in Gullu Dheri village of the Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Izhar Shah, a senior police officer.
"The polio workers were terrified and immediately went back to their homes after the attack," Shah said. "The anti-polio drive in that village has been suspended."
It was the second day of a three-day campaign against polio by the provincial government. No one claimed responsibility for the killing, but suspicion fell on militants.
Some Islamic militants oppose the vaccination campaign, accuse health workers of acting as spies for the US and claim the polio vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile.
In December, gunmen killed nine polio workers in similar attacks across Pakistan, prompting authorities to suspend the vaccination campaign in troubled areas. The latest campaign, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was launched on Monday to give oral drops to children who had missed it the first time round.
Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling disease is endemic. The virus, which usually infects children living in unsanitary conditions, attacks the nerves and can kill or paralyse. Up to 56 polio cases were reported in Pakistan during 2012, down from 190 the previous year, according to the UN.
Most of the new cases in Pakistan were in the north-west, where the presence of militants makes it difficult to reach children.
via The Guardian World News http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/29/pakistan-polio-vaccines-gunmen-shooting
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