A polio vaccinator was killed in Pakistan on Tuesday morning amid a health operation in the city of Faisalabad. The incident took place just a day after Taliban fighters claimed responsibility to the death of two policemen stationed in the northwestern part of the county.
Senior police Ali Waseem told Agence France-Presse that two unidentified gunmen fired six shots before Muhammad Sarfaraz, 40, fell to his death. Waseem added that the polio vaccinator killed in Pakistan is a known adversary of Islamic extremists, though it is still unclear if this is the cause of his death.
Meanwhile, Punjab health officer Salman Rafiq condemned the first case of civilian assassination in the province. The shooting was also in time when the city is under immense security threats in relation to a public clamor in favor of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation.
Despite the Pakistani government's efforts to curb the spread of disease, the Taliban accuse such medical mission as a means of alliance to the United States of America. Jundullah, a Taliban sub-group, claimed responsibility of the incident.
Jundullah spokesman Ahmed Marwat told local news agencies that anti polio health workers will be the target of future assassinations, citing the case of a polio vaccinator killed in Pakistan. However, Waseem clarified that the police is still investigating on possible leads and motives of the attack.
The World Health Organization listed Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as the "the world's largest pool of polio virus." In fact, the rate of epidemic has increased significantly from 58 cases in 2012 to 91 in 2013.
Government officials said violent attacks in the province are rare especially after the December 2012 siege where 67 lives were lost. In a similar incident to the polio vaccinator killed in Pakistan, Shakil Afridi, a medical doctor spearheading a vaccination program was accused by the Taliban of espionage.
Afridi was also linked in providing intel to the U.S. Special Forces that resulted in the bloody capture of Osama Bin Laden in his residence in Abbottabad.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
