Two Anti-polio Workers Killed In NW Pakistan

Islamabad, May 29, IRNA – Unknown assailants opened fire on a team of polio workers in the Badbher area of north western city of Peshawar, leaving two women dead, local media reported on Tuesday. Reportedly, the female health workers were attacked despite the fact that security personnel were accompanying them. The women were shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital in critical condition but succumbed to injuries. Polio vaccination teams have been attacked by militants in Karachi, Mardan, Peshawar and other Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa districts in the past. On December 19, the World Health Organization and UNICEF withdrew field workers owing to security threats. However, polio workers from national health bodies continued to serve despite the danger./end