Polio vaccinators attacked, held hostage in two separate incidents in NW Pakistan

Peshawar: Three terrorists were killed in a gunbattle when they attacked a polio vaccinators' team in Pakistan's restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday.

In another incident, unknown militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at a dispensary in the same province, sources said here.

The attack on polio vaccinators came a day after Pakistan on Monday started its third nationwide polio campaign to vaccinate 45 million children.

In the first incident in the Aurakzai tribal district, bordering Afghanistan, a policeman was also killed in the shootout while frustrating the attack on the polio vaccinators.

At least three terrorists were mowed down by the police in the fierce gunbattle and a fresh team has been rushed to the site, sources added.

No group claimed responsibility for the brutal attack.

In the second incident in North Waziristan's tehsil Shewa, unidentified militants took hostage the entire team of polio vaccinators at the Mamet Kot dispensary in the restive northwest province.

The assailants also seized weapons from the police officers, according to sources.

Tribesmen are against oral polio vaccination of their children citing Sharia to substantiate their viewpoint and call it unIslamic.

Pakistan on Monday started its third nationwide polio campaign to vaccinate 45 million children against the crippling disease as the virus was detected in the environmental samples from 16 districts.

The week-long vaccination campaign aims to tackle the alarming spread of polio in the country, which has reported 41 cases this year.

Of these, 21 polio cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, six from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).