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Pakistani security forces have aborted a militant attack on a group of health workers administering a polio vaccination campaign in the country’s main seaport and financial center of Karachi, killing one gunman and arresting another.
The two Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants sought to attack the polio team in the city's northern neighborhood of Ahsanabad on Tuesday, but escorting police repelled their assault.
"Two people named Ameer Hamza and Misbah, both from TTP, came to attack polio workers and one of them was injured when the police retaliated," senior police officer Muneer Shaikh said.
Police officer Khalid Khan said the wounded militant, identified as Misbah, later succumbed to his gunshot wounds in hospital.
No police officer or member of the polio team was harmed in the incident. Law enforcement forces later seized the militants’ weapons, and vaccination was abandoned in the area.
Taliban militants in Pakistan have ordered a ban on polio vaccination campaigns, saying it could be a cover-up for espionage activities by the United States in the country.
The Taliban says it would not allow the vaccination campaign to be conducted as long as the United States continues its assassination drone attacks in Pakistan.
Several anti-polio workers have been killed and taken as prisoner in recent months in various regions of Pakistan.
On December 13, unknown gunmen killed a policeman on his way to guard a polio vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan, leaving a second officer wounded.
On November 23, Pakistani militants kidnapped eleven teachers working in a polio vaccination campaign for schoolchildren along the border with Afghanistan.
The teachers were reportedly taken to an area controlled by militant leader Mangal Bagh and his Taliban-affiliated Lashkar-e-Islam group.
Along with a surge in violence, Pakistan has also witnessed a rise in polio cases.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan recorded 72 cases of polio this year. The figure marks an increase of 14 cases from the number registered in the South Asian country in 2012.
PressTV - Pakistani police thwart attack on anti-polio team
The two Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants sought to attack the polio team in the city's northern neighborhood of Ahsanabad on Tuesday, but escorting police repelled their assault.
"Two people named Ameer Hamza and Misbah, both from TTP, came to attack polio workers and one of them was injured when the police retaliated," senior police officer Muneer Shaikh said.
Police officer Khalid Khan said the wounded militant, identified as Misbah, later succumbed to his gunshot wounds in hospital.
No police officer or member of the polio team was harmed in the incident. Law enforcement forces later seized the militants’ weapons, and vaccination was abandoned in the area.
Taliban militants in Pakistan have ordered a ban on polio vaccination campaigns, saying it could be a cover-up for espionage activities by the United States in the country.
The Taliban says it would not allow the vaccination campaign to be conducted as long as the United States continues its assassination drone attacks in Pakistan.
Several anti-polio workers have been killed and taken as prisoner in recent months in various regions of Pakistan.
On December 13, unknown gunmen killed a policeman on his way to guard a polio vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan, leaving a second officer wounded.
On November 23, Pakistani militants kidnapped eleven teachers working in a polio vaccination campaign for schoolchildren along the border with Afghanistan.
The teachers were reportedly taken to an area controlled by militant leader Mangal Bagh and his Taliban-affiliated Lashkar-e-Islam group.
Along with a surge in violence, Pakistan has also witnessed a rise in polio cases.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan recorded 72 cases of polio this year. The figure marks an increase of 14 cases from the number registered in the South Asian country in 2012.
PressTV - Pakistani police thwart attack on anti-polio team
