3 ladies working in polio drive killed

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Attackers on Tuesday gunned down three ladies working to manage the anti-polio vaccine in japanese Afghanistan, officers stated, a day after authorities launched a brand new marketing campaign in opposition to the crippling kids’s illness.

The ladies have been killed in two separate assaults in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Fared Khan, spokesman for Nangarhar police, stated two have been shot and killed in police District 7 and the third was killed in District 4.

In accordance with an official from the governor’s workplace, native media have been reporting that no arrest have been made to date within the case. The official, who was not approved to speak to the media, spoke on situation of anonymity.

Nobody instantly claimed duty for the assault however japanese Afghanistan has witnessed a rise of assaults by the Islamic State group. IS militants have declared battle on Shiites and ceaselessly goal the nation’s minority Hazaras.

The federal government on Monday launched one other spherical of polio vaccinations throughout the nation, aiming to inoculate 9.6 million kids beneath 5 years of age. The polio drive got here after 54 new instances of polio have been reported in 2020, the very best quantity on document for the reason that fall of the Taliban in 2001.

In accordance with the United Nations, Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the one two international locations on this planet the place polio continues to be endemic, after Nigeria was final yr declared freed from the wild poliovirus. With a rise within the variety of polio instances over the past three years, the battle to eradicate the crippling kids’s illness has grow to be a pivoting problem for Afghanistan.

Many of the vaccination campaigns throughout the nation are carried out by feminine well being employees, who can achieve higher entry to households and moms and kids in a door-to-door effort.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State group claimed duty for killing three ladies who labored for a neighborhood radio and TV station, additionally in Jalalabad. Mursal Wahidi, Sadia Sadat and Shahnaz Raufi had left work collectively and have been killed in separate assaults whereas on their approach residence.

In the meantime, many different assaults have gone unclaimed. The federal government blames most on the resurgent Taliban, who as we speak maintain sway over practically half the nation. The Taliban, in flip, deny any position in among the assaults and blame the federal government.