This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/world/asia/gunmen-in-pakistan-kill-4-members-of-anti-polio-campaign.html
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Gunmen in Pakistan Kill 4 Anti-Polio Workers | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Unidentified gunmen killed four health workers taking part in an anti-polio campaign in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, highlighting the challenge the country faces in stopping the spread of the virus. | |
Pakistan is one of three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where polio remains endemic. But even as Nigeria has managed to halt any rise in new cases, the virus has spread at alarming rates in Pakistan, with 260 new cases reported so far this year, compared with 64 at the same point in 2013, according to Global Polio Eradication Initiative statistics. | |
Although Pakistani officials have reaffirmed their commitment to halting the virus, immunization efforts have been deeply hampered by political chaos and militant violence. | |
Immunization workers have repeatedly come under fire by Pakistani militants, and that appeared to be the case again on Wednesday, though no group claimed responsibility. Militants have widely viewed immunization workers as potential spies and agents of the West. | |
The police said the attack happened around 10 a.m. on the eastern outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province, which has been wracked by sectarian violence and a long and brutal war between Baluch separatists and the military and its allied militias. | |
The vaccination campaign in Quetta and the surrounding district was immediately halted, but officials said it would continue in other districts of Baluchistan. | |
“Three women and one man died in the attack,” Noor Baksh Mengal, the police official in charge of the neighborhood where the killings took place, said by telephone. “Three other females workers are also wounded.” | |
The wounded workers were admitted to a hospital, and their condition was said to be not life-threatening. | The wounded workers were admitted to a hospital, and their condition was said to be not life-threatening. |
Mr. Mengal said that two attackers riding a motorcycle had opened fire on a van carrying the health workers. He said the workers were not accompanied by a police security team at the time, and he faulted them for not properly coordinating with the police. He said the workers were to meet a police team and were on their way to that meeting when they came under attack. | |
In most cases, however, health workers remain vulnerable to militant attacks even with a security detail. Baluchistan and northwestern regions, like Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province and the tribal areas, have seen both the most intense violence against health workers and the biggest rise in polio cases. | |
An ongoing military campaign against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region has factored in as well, causing a huge flood of refugees out of an area that had many polio cases. | |
On Wednesday, local officials said an American drone strike in the northwestern tribal region of North Waziristan had killed at least five people suspected of being militants. | |
“Two missiles hit a house used by militants in Konday Sir area of Datta Khel in the morning,” a local government official, who was not authorized to talk to the news media, said on the condition of anonymity. “Five militants are believed to be killed in the strike.” | “Two missiles hit a house used by militants in Konday Sir area of Datta Khel in the morning,” a local government official, who was not authorized to talk to the news media, said on the condition of anonymity. “Five militants are believed to be killed in the strike.” |
The identities of those killed could not be independently confirmed. |