Polio vaccinator shot dead in Faisalabad, Jundullah claims responsibility

Published December 9, 2014
In this photo, a health worker administers polio vaccination to a child during a vaccination campaign. — AFP/File
In this photo, a health worker administers polio vaccination to a child during a vaccination campaign. — AFP/File

LAHORE: Outlawed militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility for killing a polio vaccination team member in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

Ahmed Marwat, who claims to be the spokesman of Jundullah, said polio workers would always be on the group’s hit list throughout Pakistan and that it would continue carrying out attacks on them.

Take a look: Two policemen on polio duty shot dead

Today's attack — the latest of many on the teams — occurred in a residential area of Faisalabad in Punjab, where workers were immunising children on the second day of an anti-polio drive.

Mohammad Sarfaraz, 40, was a schoolteacher working as a volunteer in the campaign, senior police official Ali Waseem said.

“Gunmen on a motorcycle fired six shots and he died on the spot,” Waseem said.

Doctor Rana Waqar Sadiq, a senior health official, confirmed the killing of a member of his polio team.

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

Examine: Poor anti-polio drive in KP worries UN agencies

Attempts to stamp it out have been badly hit by opposition from militants and attacks on immunisation teams that have claimed 67 lives since December 2012.

The militants claim that polio vaccination is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Taliban insurgents had also claimed the killing of two policemen assigned to protect an immunisation team a day before.

Mohammad Khorasani, main spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of two policemen in northwest Pakistan the day before.

They were killed in the town of Buner near the Swat Valley while on the way to protect a polio vaccination team.

“Police are our target and both the men were killed because they were from the police force,” Khorasani said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Explore: Lady health workers boycott anti-polio campaign in Quetta

Opinion

Editorial

X post facto
Updated 19 Apr, 2024

X post facto

Our decision-makers should realise the harm they are causing.
Insufficient inquiry
19 Apr, 2024

Insufficient inquiry

UNLESS the state is honest about the mistakes its functionaries have made, we will be doomed to repeat our follies....
Melting glaciers
19 Apr, 2024

Melting glaciers

AFTER several rain-related deaths in KP in recent days, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has sprung into...
IMF’s projections
Updated 18 Apr, 2024

IMF’s projections

The problems are well-known and the country is aware of what is needed to stabilise the economy; the challenge is follow-through and implementation.
Hepatitis crisis
18 Apr, 2024

Hepatitis crisis

THE sheer scale of the crisis is staggering. A new WHO report flags Pakistan as the country with the highest number...
Never-ending suffering
18 Apr, 2024

Never-ending suffering

OVER the weekend, the world witnessed an intense spectacle when Iran launched its drone-and-missile barrage against...