Two female anti-polio workers shot dead in Quetta

QUETTA: Two female members of a polio vaccination team in Quetta were shot dead on Thursday.

Police said that unidentified miscreants opened fire on the polio team in the Shalkot area, killing a mother-daughter duo in what law enforcers believe is a targeted attack.

The assailants escaped unhurt from the site of the attack, police said, as a heavy contingent of law enforcers and Frontier Corps reached the area.

Attacks targeting polio teams have decreased in frequency over the last few years.

The last major attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Quetta took place two years ago in Jan 2016 in the Satellite Town area. At least 13 policemen and a civilian were killed in the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan-claimed suicide attack near a polio centre.

Polio teams have been the target of militants allegedly after the Taliban spread rumours that the vaccination drives were a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

PM CONDEMNS KILLING OF POLIO WORKERS: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi strongly condemned the attack on the polio team in Quetta, which resulted in the loss of two precious lives. The premier directed the authorities concerned to make every possible effort for apprehending the culprits involved in the incident, and ordered the chief secretary and Balochistan Police chief to submit a report of the incident.

Expressing sympathies with the bereaved families, the premier said polio teams were rendering a huge national service to save children from the crippling disease. “Attack on these dedicated workers who risk their lives for the nation, is an attack on the country’s future,” he observed.

The prime minister also directed the Balochistan government to provide comprehensive security cover to the polio teams.