Pakistan- Female polio worker among two shot dead in Bannu
Date
12/10/2019 1:10:05 AM
(MENAFN- Tribal News Network) BANNU: Two people, including a lady health worker (LHW) have been killed in a firing incident in Bannu, Police said on Tuesday.
According to police, the firing incident took place in Nazeem Bazaar in the limits of Basiakhel Police Station on Monday night. Lady health worker Bastaj Bibi was travelling in a rickshaw when unknown armed men opened fire on her, leaving her and the rickshaw driver critically injured. Both were shifted to Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.
Police said the lady health worker was going for a polio vaccination campaign when she was targeted by unknown armed men. Bastaj Bibi was on duty at the camp for temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) in Bakakhel area of Bannu.
The assailants escaped after committing the murder. Police cordoned off the entire area and launched a search operation. However, no arrest was made during the search operation.
A three-day polio vaccination campaign kicked off in Bannu on December 09. It was feared that the vaccination campaign may be affected due to attack on the polio worker.
So far 94 polio cases have surfaced in Pakistan this year out of which 22 cases have surfaced from Bannu. Nearby Lakki Marwat district stands second with 19 reported polio cases, while Waziristan, in the similar region, has reported eight cases. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded 68 polio cases this year. In Sindh, 14 cases have been reported this year and seven have been reported from Balochistan.
That figure depicts sorry state of affairs as far as polio vaccination is concerned. Most of these cases have surfaced due to refusal of parents to administer polio vaccine to their children.
Currently, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world which have not fully eradicated polio. Vaccination efforts in these countries are often halted by refusing parents and security risks faced by polio workers. In Pakistan, the refusal issue was main stumbling block in vaccination efforts, while attacks on polio workers and security personnel also happened in the past, but recently no such attacks were witnessed. Monday's attack on the LHW depicts the extremely difficult situation for the government which has to ensure provision of polio vaccination to each and every child amid refusal of stubborn parents and security risks.
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