Two female volunteers and a nurse working door to door to vaccinate children against polio were shot dead by gunmen in two separate incidents in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday. The second attack took place less than an hour later when two female polio workers were killed in the city’s Lal Qasim Agha area. A Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, sent a message to the Guardian stating: “Taliban did not attack the female polio workers.”The murders came a day after the government launched a national vaccination campaign against polio. “The targeting of female workers in the same areas is frequent. Teams of polio workers are frequently targeted by militants, including the Taliban, which remain a major hurdle in vaccination efforts.

Source: The Guardian March 30, 2021 11:30 UTC