E-Paper
Taliban ban polio drive, say it is spywork
A senior Taliban commander has banned polio eradication in one of the most troubled areas of the Pakistan frontier in an effort to force the US to end drone strikes.
A senior Taliban commander has banned polio eradication in one of the most troubled areas of the Pakistan frontier in an effort to force the US to end drone strikes.
Leaflets distributed in South Waziristan on behalf of Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies (Fata) accused health workers who administer anti-polio drops of being US spies.
“In the garb of these vaccination campaigns, the US and its allies are running their spying networks in Fata which has brought death and destruction on them in the form of drone strikes,” the leaflet said.
It also questioned the sincerity of international efforts to tackle the highly infectious disease. “On the one hand, they are killing innocent children in drone strikes, while on the other hand they are saving their lives by vaccinating them,” the printed note said.
