Blast targets polio team in Bajaur Agency
Officials said an Improvise Explosive Devise (IED) device was planted on the roadside and detonated when the vehicle was passing by. As a result of the blast, the vehicle was damaged and three people were injured, including the driver of the vehicle.
The injured were shifted to the Agency Head Quarter Hospital and so far, no deaths have been reported.
A three-day campaign, which commenced on Monday, was due to end today in Bajaur Agency.
According to a surgeon, Zakir Hussain, of Agency hospital about 224, 000 children were to be immunised in the three-day campaign and 1,600 teams were formed for the entire campaign, which include levy officials and peace committee volunteers.
Polio teams across the country have recently been subject to similar target attacks and are often bereft of security when carrying out anti-polio campaigns.
About 42 union councils had to postpone their anti-polio campaigns due to lack of security.
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As of this month, the number of new polio cases in Pakistan stands at 210 and the country is bracing for potentially dozens of other cases by year’s end. Pakistan now accounts for 80 percent of global cases and is one of only three countries at risk of exporting the disease outside its borders, according to the World Health Organization.
Yet the sad truth is that we saw another attack on polio team in Northern Pakistan today. Earlier this week the militants in FATA and Khyber Agency had declared the polio vaccination drive anti-Islamic and warned polio workers of dire consequences if they try to administer polio drops to children of their area. This is ridiculous; they are not only putting the children of the area at risk, but children all over. “It’s an emergency, a public health emergency,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the polio eradication coordinator for Pakistan’s government. “We want to limit the virus outside of our boundaries and want to work to control it in our boundaries, but it’s certainly a very challenging situation ahead.”
The World Health Organization and USAID, along with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are working hard to curtail and eradicate polio from Pakistan. It is unfortunate that the terrorists are hampering the efforts with their attacks on polio teams. There are already travel restrictions placed on Pakistanis travelling overseas because of the polio virus. Aziz Memon, chairman of the Pakistan PolioPlus Committee, said, “Polio is no longer an emergency. This has become an outbreak.” Memon said, “The government needs to take full ownership. . . and it needs to be done on a war footing.”
Abdul Quddus DET - U.S. Central Command
@rohit950723 : please also consider the conditions of Japan & India in the same time duration. so i dont think you are qualified to make comments on our policies.
.....and we still do nothing about the militant madrassas that dot our landscape.
Take example 1942, Japan & Pakistan both were in the same bad condition. But today , where is Japan & where is Pakistan . It is Pakistani policy maker to blame.
We should leave the slogan GO Nawaz and Imran and blaw blaw . Now the time is come to unity against terrorism ...
"Bomb tree" He he he