Need of the hour: Two policemen to escort polio teams in Swabi

Move comes following attacks on health workers.

SWABI: After a number of targeted attacks on anti-polio teams in Swabi, DPO Dr Mian Saeed Khan on Tuesday announced that each vaccination team will be escorted by two police officials.

Earlier on June 16, gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two health workers who were administering anti-polio drops to children in Union Council Pabini. The police chief then directed that vaccinators will be issued permits to carry small weapons for their safety and imposed a ban on pillion riding for 30 days.

After the incident, however, teachers and paramedic staff in the district refused to take part in campaigns without proper security and demanded the government to arrest the culprits behind the attacks.

On January 29, elite force personnel Munsif Khan was killed by militants while he was escorting a polio team during an immunisation campaign in Gullo Dheri area. On January 1, seven workers and members of a non-governmental organisation, including six women, were gunned down by unidentified armed men near Sheikh Dheri area of Lahor tehsil of the district.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2013.