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Terrorists kill four polio workers, injuring three in eastern Afghanistan | Health Issues

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Police officers headed to three locations in the city of Jalalabad – the last in a series of high-profile protests.

Four polio vaccine workers have been killed and three others injured in a series of deadly attacks in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, a regional health ministry official said in a recent crackdown on health workers.

The city has been plagued by mass killings since peace talks began between the Taliban and the Afghan government last year in Doha, many of them against government officials, health workers, journalists and the general public.

Dr Jan Mohammad, chief of polio vaccine management in Nangarhar, of which Jalalabad is the capital, on Tuesday said gunmen attacked police officers in three locations in the city that killed four and injured three others.

“Today was the second day of our work after three months but we have to stop,” Mohammad told Reuters, adding that all the victims were men.

Guns killed three women polio vaccine workers in Jalalabad in March this year, which forced health workers to quit their jobs and monitor safety.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains high.

Men praying in front of a coffin of one of three women paramedics killed by unknown individuals in two locations in Jalalabad in March this year [File: Reuters]

No group was charged Tuesday.

The Taliban, who are fighting for the foreign-backed Afghan government, have refused to take part in the protests in the past.

ISIL (ISIS) has also helped kill a number of people involved in government agencies, as well as journalists and legal experts.

Zia ul Haq Amarkhil, Nangarhar’s governor, said police were investigating the threats.

Many people in Afghanistan oppose the vaccine, while fellow activists often fight against health workers, claiming that they are being used by whites as a cover for spying.

The program of a recent increase in violence is coming as the US and NATO complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The 2,500-3,500 US troops and 7,000 NATO troops will join on September 11, although there are speculations that it may be dead by mid-July.



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