April 21, 2013
Since December 2012, over 20 health workers involved in a polio vaccination campaign have been killed in Pakistan, presumably by the Taliban.The Pakistani Taliban denied any involvement in the attacks on polio workers. It however confirmed it opposes the vaccination as ‘un-Islamic’. The Taliban last year banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage. There are also rumours in the region that polio vaccines are used to sterilise Muslims. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria are the only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic.
Source: Agence France Presse