At least four people were killed Tuesday in a string of targeted attacks on polio workers in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, the second assault on …
At least four people were killed Tuesday in a string of targeted attacks on polio workers in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, the second assault on vaccinators in the area in less than three months. The polio workers were gunned down in three different locations over two hours, in a “coordinated attack”, Nangarhar police spokesman Farid Khan said. “This is the work of the Taliban, targeting health workers to deprive people of polio vaccines,” he said. Health ministry spokesman Osman Taheri confirmed the attacks. The Taliban denied responsibility. Polio has been eradicated across the world apart from Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, where distrust of vaccines and eradication campaigns is rife. Officials said two vaccinators were killed and one wounded in Tuesday’s attacks in Khogyani district, while two were killed in Surkhrod.
