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Gunmen Shoot Policemen Protecting Polio Vaccination Team In Pakistan


A Pakistani policeman stands guard as a polio vaccination worker marks a child after immunization with antipolio drops in Lahore. (file photo)
A Pakistani policeman stands guard as a polio vaccination worker marks a child after immunization with antipolio drops in Lahore. (file photo)
One policeman has been shot dead and another wounded as they escorted a team conducting a polio vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan.

Police officials said two men riding a motorbike opened fire on the two policemen on April 10 as the vaccination team visited the Parhoti neighborhood of the town of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

The police were reportedly standing outside a home as the female polio workers were inside giving polio drops to children.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

In December, gunmen killed at least nine polio workers in separate attacks in different parts of Pakistan.

Some Pakistani militants oppose the polio vaccination campaign, accusing health workers of acting as spies for the United States and claiming the vaccine is intended to make Muslim children sterile.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

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