Militants kill mother-daughter polio workers in Pakistan

Polio teams have routinely been a target of militants after the Taliban spread rumours that the vaccination drives were a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Unidentified gunmen on Thursday shot dead a mother and her daughter who were part of a polio vaccination team in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s troubled Balochistan province.

A Pakistani policeman stands guard as a health worker administers the polio vaccine to a child during a vaccination campaign in Karachi on April 18, 2017. (AFP File Photo)

The gunmen opened fire on the polio team in the Shalkot area, killing the two women in what law enforcers believe is a targeted attack, Dawn reported, quoting police sources.

The attackers escaped unhurt from the site of the attack, police said.

Earlier on Thursday, two policemen were shot dead in a targeted attack in the Zarghoon Road area in Quetta.

Polio teams have been the target of militants after the Taliban spread rumours that the vaccination drives were a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

The last major attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Quetta took place two years ago in January 2016 in the Satellite Town area.

At least 13 policemen and a civilian were killed in the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan-claimed suicide attack near a polio centre.