Under fire: Polio worker injured in gun attack
Another narrowly escapes assault after spotting the militants.
SHABQADAR:
The perils of taking part in the polio vaccination campaign were exposed once again on Monday as a worker was injured in a drive-by shooting in Shabqadar, while his friend narrowly escaped.
Area in charge of the polio campaign, Asif Khan, said he and fellow 10th grade student Sajid Khan were checking on polio teams in UC Katozai near Sadar Ghari Afghan refugee camp in Munda. He added two unidentified motorcyclists arrived at the spot and started firing at them. Asif managed to narrowly escape, but Sajid was less fortunate and suffered severe injuries. “I took shelter at a house nearby with another lady worker,” said Asif.
Khwajawas police official Murad Khan told The Express Tribune that police cordoned off the area and shifted the injured polio worker, who had been lying by the roadside, to a hospital. He added a search for the assailants was under way while Sajid was later shifted to a hospital in Peshawar in critical condition.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction Jamaatul Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack. “We will soon release our policy statement on polio vaccine,” TTP Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a statement.
The devastated friend
Asif, who saw his associate fall victim to the guns of the militants, was clearly distressed. It was Asif, who called for an immediate end to the vaccination campaign, saying he would otherwise commit suicide.
Health staffers rushed to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Medical Superintendent Noor Badshah’s office and appeared visibly perturbed over the attack. They were told by the polio health supervisor he saw the gunmen from about 200 metres away.
“What crime did he commit?” Asif screamed at the top of his lungs. He said Sajid came from a financially disadvantaged family and his father was a rickshaw driver working on daily wages.
Asif recalled he was the one who convinced his friend to join the campaign and also pacified Sajid’s mother who feared for her son’s safety. “What answer will I give her?” he asked. Asif also wondered if the government would compensate the victim’s family. However, he answered his own question by saying the relatives would receive “nothing as none of the past victims had been compensated”.
Recalling the circumstances of the attack, the polio worker said Sajid, social worker Gul-e-Rukh and he were checking on polio teams when motorcyclists arrived at the spot and put a gun to his head. Asif was alert and managed to avoid getting injured, but Sajid got shot. “I jumped over the wall of a house and the residents were asking us to leave.”
In his hysterical state, he lashed out at the police, who according to him, were a hundred metres away but could do nothing.
‘Let us protect ourselves’
“The government needs to arm us with weapons instead of providing police protection so we can defend ourselves,” Asif said.
Medical Superintendent of Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Noor Badshah, who carries a firearm for his own protection, echoed his views and said the polio workers must be given weapons if the police cannot provide protection.
Katozai BHU in charge Dr Hidayatullah said he was nervous after the incident and feared for his safety. Meanwhile, Shafiullah who had just returned from the scene of the attack expressed similar concerns.
District Health Officer Dr Nawaz Khan tried to pacify Asif and told him not to feel alone as the medical staff understood his distress. He said sheer will could eliminate polio and officials had been able to keep a check on the spread of the crippling disease in the past.
The THQ Hospital soon looked more like a police station than a medical facility as it was filled with security officials. Polio supervisor Zakia Bibi’s husband and polio team driver Bahar Khan’s widow, both who found employment at the hospital after the death of their loved ones in December 2012, were also present.
Dr Nawaz Khan told The Express Tribune that 1,521 teams comprising 3,040 workers had been deployed for the day-long campaign in Charsadda district. He said 253,254 children were to be immunised, but around 2,000 were missed as their parents refused to let the vaccine be administered. As many as 262 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2014.
The perils of taking part in the polio vaccination campaign were exposed once again on Monday as a worker was injured in a drive-by shooting in Shabqadar, while his friend narrowly escaped.
Area in charge of the polio campaign, Asif Khan, said he and fellow 10th grade student Sajid Khan were checking on polio teams in UC Katozai near Sadar Ghari Afghan refugee camp in Munda. He added two unidentified motorcyclists arrived at the spot and started firing at them. Asif managed to narrowly escape, but Sajid was less fortunate and suffered severe injuries. “I took shelter at a house nearby with another lady worker,” said Asif.
Khwajawas police official Murad Khan told The Express Tribune that police cordoned off the area and shifted the injured polio worker, who had been lying by the roadside, to a hospital. He added a search for the assailants was under way while Sajid was later shifted to a hospital in Peshawar in critical condition.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) faction Jamaatul Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack. “We will soon release our policy statement on polio vaccine,” TTP Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a statement.
The devastated friend
Asif, who saw his associate fall victim to the guns of the militants, was clearly distressed. It was Asif, who called for an immediate end to the vaccination campaign, saying he would otherwise commit suicide.
Health staffers rushed to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Medical Superintendent Noor Badshah’s office and appeared visibly perturbed over the attack. They were told by the polio health supervisor he saw the gunmen from about 200 metres away.
“What crime did he commit?” Asif screamed at the top of his lungs. He said Sajid came from a financially disadvantaged family and his father was a rickshaw driver working on daily wages.
Asif recalled he was the one who convinced his friend to join the campaign and also pacified Sajid’s mother who feared for her son’s safety. “What answer will I give her?” he asked. Asif also wondered if the government would compensate the victim’s family. However, he answered his own question by saying the relatives would receive “nothing as none of the past victims had been compensated”.
Recalling the circumstances of the attack, the polio worker said Sajid, social worker Gul-e-Rukh and he were checking on polio teams when motorcyclists arrived at the spot and put a gun to his head. Asif was alert and managed to avoid getting injured, but Sajid got shot. “I jumped over the wall of a house and the residents were asking us to leave.”
In his hysterical state, he lashed out at the police, who according to him, were a hundred metres away but could do nothing.
‘Let us protect ourselves’
“The government needs to arm us with weapons instead of providing police protection so we can defend ourselves,” Asif said.
Medical Superintendent of Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Noor Badshah, who carries a firearm for his own protection, echoed his views and said the polio workers must be given weapons if the police cannot provide protection.
Katozai BHU in charge Dr Hidayatullah said he was nervous after the incident and feared for his safety. Meanwhile, Shafiullah who had just returned from the scene of the attack expressed similar concerns.
District Health Officer Dr Nawaz Khan tried to pacify Asif and told him not to feel alone as the medical staff understood his distress. He said sheer will could eliminate polio and officials had been able to keep a check on the spread of the crippling disease in the past.
The THQ Hospital soon looked more like a police station than a medical facility as it was filled with security officials. Polio supervisor Zakia Bibi’s husband and polio team driver Bahar Khan’s widow, both who found employment at the hospital after the death of their loved ones in December 2012, were also present.
Dr Nawaz Khan told The Express Tribune that 1,521 teams comprising 3,040 workers had been deployed for the day-long campaign in Charsadda district. He said 253,254 children were to be immunised, but around 2,000 were missed as their parents refused to let the vaccine be administered. As many as 262 polio cases have been reported in Pakistan this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2014.