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Polio wars escalate in Pakistan as gunman shoots dead policeman protecting a team of female aid workers



A policeman has been shot dead while protecting a team of female polio workers in Pakistan, in the latest in a series of attacks on people connected to a UN-backed vaccination programme.

Recent months have seen a spate of deadly attacks on aid workers linked to the scheme - which has been condemned by some Islamic groups who claim it is intended to sterilise Muslim children - in Pakistan and in northern Nigeria.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province today, but suspicion has fallen on Islamic militants.




Polio: The UN-backed vaccination programme has been condemned by some Islamic militants who claim it is intended to make Muslim children sterile (file photo)



In January seven female aid workers and a male doctor were shot dead while working for an agency vaccinating children against polio in Pakistan. The Taliban - whose leaders had repeatedly denounced the vaccination programme - denied involvement in the attacks.


The next month nine female health workers were shot in northern Nigeria in two attacks around 30 minutes apart.

The shootings in Nigeria were blamed on Islamist militant group Boko Haram.




Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic. Health workers have made progress in combatting the disease in recent years, but the attacks threaten to reverse that progress.


Some opponents to the vaccination campaign have accused health workers of acting as spies for the U.S. and claimed the vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile.


Today's attack occurred in the district of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said police officer Mohammed Nabi Khan. One policeman was killed and another wounded.


No polio workers were harmed since they were inside a home giving polio drops to children at the time of the attack, said Khan.



Endemic: A polio vaccination programme is also underway in Nigeria, where nine female health workers were shot in February in an attack blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram (file photo)



In December, gunmen killed nine polio workers in different parts of Pakistan. Several more workers have been killed since then, as well as policemen who were protecting them.
The U.N. said last month that some 240,000 children missed vaccinations since July in parts of Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Islamic militants, because of security concerns.

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