QUETTA: Two new polio cases were reported from Balochistan's Killa Abdullah and Pishin district on Saturday, raising the tally to 21 in the province.

Sources in the provincial health department said that two more children have become victims of the crippling disease.

New victims were identified as 17-month-old Hafsa from Karbala Pishin and 13-month-old Inayatullah from Killa Abdullah district of Balochistan. Health sources termed refusal on the part of parents as the underlying reason behind the recent emergence of polio cases in the province.

Polio teams have been facing tough resistance from extremists in Quetta, Pishin and Killa Abdullah.

The provincial health department in collaboration with World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF has launched the second phase of anti-polio campaign in different parts of Quetta.

Sources in health department stated that polio drops were being administered to children below the age of five years in Sariab Road and other areas of Quetta. Strict security measures were adopted by the administration during the campaign to thwart occurrence of any untoward incident in the city.

Security has been tightened during polio campaigns in the aftermath of cold-blooded murder of four polio workers including three females in Quetta's Eastern Bypass area on November 26 this year.