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Gunmen Attack Polio Workers in Pakistani Tribal Belt Musharraf Granted Bail in Bhutto Assassination Case
(about 5 hours later)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s tribal belt on Monday, killing a paramilitary soldier and underscoring the continued threat to one of the region’s most urgent health campaigns. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After weeks of legal setbacks, Pakistan’s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, won a small victory on Monday amid media speculation that the military is seeking to free the former army chief from a tangle of court cases.
Gunmen hiding in a field fired at the health workers as they were traveling through Bajaur tribal district, which borders Afghanistan. A paramilitary soldier who had been guarding the team was killed, and the gunmen fled. An antiterrorism court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, granted Mr. Musharraf bail on charges relating to the death of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007 while Mr. Musharraf was in power.
“It was hit and run. The militants made good their escape,” said a senior tribal official in the district, who spoke by telephone on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the news media. His lawyer, Salman Safdar, said bail, which was set close to $20,000, represented Mr. Musharraf’s “first legal relief” since his dramatic return from exile in March and subsequent arrest.
Eight tribesmen were later detained under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, a colonial-era body of law that gives the government sweeping powers in the tribal belt, he said. The decision will not, however, see the former military leader go free. He remains under house arrest at his luxury villa outside Islamabad in connection with two other cases: the killing of a Baloch nationalist leader in 2006 and the firing of senior judges in 2007.
The health workers were part of a three-day drive to vaccinate children younger than 5 against polio in the tribal belt, which is the major center of new infections in Pakistan. The country is one of just three where the disease remains endemic. But other events suggested that moves might be afoot to ease Mr. Musharraf’s legal woes, or possibly allow him to return to exile.
Health officials say that 46 new cases of polio were detected in northwestern Pakistan in 2012, of which 20 came from the tribal belt. The Pakistani health authorities, with backing from Western donors and the United Nations, regularly conduct immunization drives that target affected children. Last week, Aslam Ghumman, a lawyer who was the main complainant against Mr. Musharraf in the case involving the judges, withdrew from the proceedings.
The current three-day campaign involves 682 teams that aim to administer vaccination drops to 223,570 children. Then on Saturday, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the Pakistani Army chief, met with Nawaz Sharif, the opposition leader whose party won the May 11 elections. Pakistani news media reported that, among other matters, the two men discussed Mr. Musharraf’s fate.
The senior tribal official said that Monday’s attack was the first in that part of Bajaur, a mountainous district that has seen fierce fighting between the Pakistani Army and Taliban militants. Mr. Musharraf’s biggest problem is a potential treason charge. The courts have ruled that Mr. Sharif’s government must decide whether to press that charge, which could carry the death penalty.
No group claimed responsibility for Monday’s shooting, but suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban, who have declared polio vaccination un-Islamic and have carried out previous attacks on polio workers. More than 20 Pakistanis have been killed in attacks on polio teams across the country in recent months. But such an move would embarrass, and possibly anger, the military, and there is increasing speculation that senior commanders are searching for a way to let Mr. Musharraf leave the country and abandon his political ambitions.
However, a leader the Afghan Taliban, a related but separate group, last week said it would facilitate polio vaccination in Afghanistan if United Nations teams used neutral health workers and respected Islamic traditions. The main military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa, was not available for comment.
If the World Health Organization and Unicef followed those directives, the statement said, then the Afghan Taliban were under orders “not to put hurdles in their way and rather offer them help.” A Musharraf aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the retired general remained opposed to the idea of leaving Pakistan again. “I cannot live abroad,” the aide quoted Mr. Musharraf as saying.
Elsewhere, militants opened fire on Monday on a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt, killing a paramilitary soldier protecting the workers. The killing underscored the threat to one of the region’s most urgent health campaigns.
Gunmen hiding in a field fired at the health workers as they traveled through the Bajaur tribal district, which borders Afghanistan. The gunmen then fled.
“It was hit-and-run. The militants made good their escape,” said a senior tribal official in the district, who spoke by telephone on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the news media.
He said eight tribesmen were later detained under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, a colonial-era body of laws that gives the government sweeping powers in the tribal belt.
The health workers were participating in a three-day drive to vaccinate children younger than 5 against polio in the tribal belt, which is the major center of infections in Pakistan. The effort involves 682 teams that aim to vaccinate 223,570 children.
The senior tribal official said that the attack was the first in that part of Bajaur, a mountainous district that has seen fierce fighting between the Pakistani Army and Taliban militants.
No group claimed responsibility for the shooting, but suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban, who have declared polio vaccinations to be un-Islamic and have carried out other attacks on polio workers. More than 20 Pakistanis have been killed in such attacks across the country in recent months.
A senior tribal official in Peshawar said the polio campaign would continue despite the attacks. “We are taking stock of the situation and will take further security measures to protect the teams,” he said.A senior tribal official in Peshawar said the polio campaign would continue despite the attacks. “We are taking stock of the situation and will take further security measures to protect the teams,” he said.

Ismail Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan, and Declan Walsh from London.

Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, and Ismail Khan reported from Peshawar. Declan Walsh contributed reporting from London.