As the polio workers entered a house to vaccinate children, militants hiding nearby opened fire on them. PHOTO: FILE
A Levies force official escorting a polio vaccination team was killed on Monday in the Mamond tehsil of Bajaur Agency.
Assistant Political Agent (APA) of Nawagai Subdivision, Muhammad Sohail Khan, said that the two Levies officials were deployed to escort two polio workers in the mountainous area of Kalam to administer vaccines.
As the polio workers entered a house to vaccinate children, militants hiding nearby opened fire on them. One Levies official, who was injured in the attack, lost his life while the other official managed to flee.
APA Sohail Khan said that the wounded official, Shad Gul, succumbed to his injuries on the way to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Khar. Security forces rushed to the site of the attack and launched a search operation but were unable to locate the attackers.
He also said that five suspects were arrested under the collective responsibility clause by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), but none of them had claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Polio vaccination teams have been attacked by militants in Karachi, Mardan, Peshawar and other Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa districts in the past.
On December 19, the World Health Organisation and Unicef withdrew field workers owing to security threats. However, polio workers from national health bodies continued to serve despite the danger.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2013.
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