Three Antipolio Workers Shot Dead In Pakistan

The relative of a female polio-eradication worker who was killed by unidentified gunmen mourns after her body was brought to a morgue at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center in Karachi on January 21.

Police in Pakistan say gunmen have shot dead three health workers in the latest attack targeting teams carrying out polio vaccinations.

Police said gunmen opened fire in separate incidents on two teams of polio workers in the southern port city of Karachi on January 21.

They said the victims were two women and one man.

Health officials said the vaccination campaign was halted following the attacks.

More than 10 polio workers and police protecting them have been reported killed in Pakistan in the past year.

Islamist militants oppose vaccination campaigns, saying they are used by Western nations to spy and to make Muslim children sterile.

Polio, an infectious disease that can cripple a person’s central nervous system, is endemic in just three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.
Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpa

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