News / Afghanistan

Gunmen shoot five polio vaccinators to death in eastern Afghanistan

Tuesday, 15 June 2021 4:11 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 15 June 2021 4:26 PM ]

Relatives carry the body of a polio vaccinator who was killed by gunmen in a string of targeted attacks on vaccinators in Afghanistan, on June 15, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Five polio vaccinators have been shot dead and several others injured by gunmen in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province, officials say.

In a “coordinated attack” on Tuesday, the health workers were gunned down in three separate locations within hours, Nangarhar provincial police spokesman, Farid Khan, said.

Khan called Taliban responsible for the attack, adding that the militant group targets “health workers to deprive people of polio vaccines.” However, the Taliban have denied any responsibility.

This is the second such attack on vaccinators in the area in less than three months.

The early morning violence in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, and the surrounding Khogyani district occurred on the second day of a four-day countrywide campaign to deliver polio drops to children under the age of five.

The inoculation drive in the province has now been halted, a health official told AFP.

“These were all targeted attacks against polio vaccinators, and for now we have stopped all polio vaccination drives in Nangarhar province,” the official said, asking to be anonymous.

Gunmen kill three female health workers in Afghanistan

Gunmen shoot dead three female polio vaccination health workers in Afghanistan

Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN secretary general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, criticized the attack and said on Twitter, “Depriving children from an assurance of a healthy life is inhumane.”

“Senseless violence must stop now, those responsible must be investigated and brought to justice,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shaharzad Akbar, the head of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission, said. “We have reached a situation where systematically employees of demining, doctor, nurse, vaccinator, human rights defenders and anyone seeking to save our lives and our children are killed.”

The vaccination program is led by the Afghan Health Ministry, with the involvement of the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF. Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the only two countries where the disease is still endemic.

Last week, 10 employees working for the HALO Trust mine-clearing organization were killed in northern Afghanistan.

The government said the attack was carried out by the Taliban, but a UK-based charity said local militants stepped in to assist.

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