Foreign insurgents halt anti-polio drive in Badakhshan

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): At least 2,000 children in the Raghistan district of northeaste Badakhshan province have been deprived of polio vaccination due to opposition from local and foreign militants, a health official said on Wednesday.

Dr. Noor Mohammad Khawari, the public health director, expressed deep conce over the impediment to the vaccination campaign. The poliovirus in the province was a serious issue but militants from Pakistan hampered the campaign, he regretted.

The director said: “We want the govement and Taliban to help administer polio drops to children in insecure areas. Teams of volunteers should be allowed to vaccinate children against the crippling disease.”

In previous rounds of the anti-polio drive, families of foreign militants had scuttled the effort in Juram district. The Taliban have not yet commented on the incident, but the group had said they did not oppose the drive.

nh/mud