Anti-polio drive claims doctor’s life

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KHAAR (Bajaur Agency), Feb 16: A doctor, who had gone to attend a meeting to promote anti-polio campaign, was killed and three health department officials were injured in a bomb explosion in the Salarzai tehsil, 30 kilometers northeast of here on Friday. The bomb was remote-controlled, it was learnt.

Dr Abdul Ghani Khan was serving as a surgeon in the Bajaur Agency.

Political Agent Shakil Qadir Khan told reporters that Dr Abdul Ghani Khan had gone to the Salarzai tehsil to win over people opposing the anti-polio campaign.

The injured, identified as Abdur Rauf, Siraj Khan and Hazrat Jamal, were taken to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Khaar. Their condition was stated to be critical.

Some people in the tribal agency are opposing the vaccination campaign as they believe that the anti-polio drive was some kind of a conspiracy to sterilise them. Health officials had already declared the Bajaur Agency as one of the high-risk zones in the tribal agencies, where a number of polio cases had been reported last year.

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