Three workers in a polio eradication campaign were shot in Pakistan on Wednesday, and two of them were killed, the latest in an unprecedented string of attacks over the past three days that has partially halted the U.N.-backed campaign.
The United Nations in Pakistan has pulled all staff involved in the immunization campaign off the streets, spokesman Michael Coleman said.
The government insisted immunization was continuing in some areas although many Pakistani health workers were refusing to go out.
Government officials were surprised by the violence, saying they had not expected attacks in areas far from the Taliban's strongholds and they would have to change tactics in the health campaign.
"We didn't expect such attacks in Karachi," said Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, minister for human rights, who oversees the polio campaign. He was referring to the southern commercial hub where there have been attacks this week. |