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Police Guard For Polio Vaccination Team Killed In Pakistan


A police officer who had was guarding a polio vaccination team in southwestern Pakistan has been killed by gunmen.

Officials said two gunmen on a motorbike shot the officer dead on February 4 in the Pashtunabad suburb of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province.

Police spokesman Aitzaz Goraya said the officer was shot as he was leaving a mosque during lunch break.

The assailants to escape unharmed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Militants frequently targeted medical workers involved in dispensing polio vaccinations, claiming the internationally backed immunization program is a cover for spying or sterilizing Muslims.

The attacks have contributed to an increase in polio cases in Pakistan, making the country one of only three countries in the world where the disease remains endemic.

Based on reporting by AFP and dawn.com

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