Government to talk with militants on anti-polio ban
Local warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur Saturday banned the anti-polio campaign in North Waziristan, a Taliban and al Qaeda-infested region bordering Afghanistan.
"We have requested the governor of northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to direct the political agent (administrator) of North Waziristan to open a dialogue with this group," a senior government official told AFP.
Bahadur, who is allied with Afghan Taliban fighting US-led troops across the border, said the ban would remain until the US stops drone attacks in the tribal region.
"On the one hand they are killing innocent women, children and old people in drone attacks and on the other they are spending millions on vaccination campaign," he said in a statement distributed in the region's main town Miranshah.
The government official said vaccinating all children in the tribal areas was a top priority in Pakistan's polio eradication programme.
"The federal government has told the governor to use all available means to ensure that the polio campaigns in the tribal area are not disrupted for the sake of tribal children in particular and Pakistan in general," the official said.
A senior health official said authorities were concerned about the safety of vaccination teams in North Waziristan.
"With a vaccination campaign coming up this week, we are concerned for over 161,000 children under five in the area who require the polio vaccination, many of whom have never been vaccinated even once against this crippling disease," he said.
"We are also very concerned for the safety of front line polio workers who, despite great personal risk, work to ensure every child is vaccinated."
Officials said the polio vaccination programme had made headway this year in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Pakistan is one of just three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
The highly infectious disease affects mainly the under-fives and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. Some cases can be fatal.
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So sovereignty doesn't come into the picture when you are dealing with dangerous militants, but only with allies?
Bent backward & release some terrorists to make Taliban happy! Let them rule the country since that would make them happy.
Going to go plead with the militants? Yeah that sovereignty is as clear as day.
So government knows who the millitants are, otherwise how can they talk to them? Once again non state actors are in the picture.
To save the children from the deadly disease of polio all efforts are to be made including persuading the militants who have banned the anti polio drive to put pressure for stoppage of drone strikes. They don't understand the language of love and peace. No care for their own children. Are they really human being ?