Two polio workers among six kidnapped from FR Tank

Published February 17, 2014
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo

PESHAWAR: Six men including two polio workers were kidnapped from a rural area in Frontier Region Tank, official sources told Dawn.com on Monday.

Sources said that a driver accompanying a team of polio vaccination workers and three Khasadar security personnel were also picked up by unknown people while the team was on routine duty in Peeng village in FR Tank.

Sources added that the kidnapped men included Dr Khandad and Fareed Taleem Ullah, who were working for the polio vaccination program.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility of the kidnapping.

The incident comes a day after a policeman deployed for a vaccination campaign was killed in a bomb attack in Peshawar.

FR Tank lies on the outer boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district and separates it from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling polio virus remains endemic.

According to the WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It warned earlier this year that Peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio.

More than 40 health workers and police personnel providing security to teams administering anti-polio drops to children have been killed in incidents of violence in the country since December 2012, according to a tally by news agency AFP.

Opinion

Editorial

Under siege
Updated 03 May, 2024

Under siege

Whether through direct censorship, withholding advertising, harassment or violence, the press in Pakistan navigates a hazardous terrain.
Meddlesome ways
03 May, 2024

Meddlesome ways

AFTER this week’s proceedings in the so-called ‘meddling case’, it appears that the majority of judges...
Mass transit mess
03 May, 2024

Mass transit mess

THAT Karachi — one of the world’s largest megacities — does not have a mass transit system worth the name is ...
Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...