UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2021) At least five polio aid workers were killed in five separate incidents in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, forcing the country to suspend its national vaccination campaign, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing.
"Five health workers were killed and four others injured in five separate attacks today in Nangarhar province. These attacks took place on people who were conducting a polio vaccination campaign," Dujarric said.
The attack comes just a week after 11 aid workers from the HALO Trust who were engaged in demining activities, were killed and 15 others were injured in an incident in Baghlan Province.
"As a direct result of these attacks, the national polio vaccination campaign, which began yesterday, has been suspended in the eastern region of Afghanistan," Dujarric said.
The suspension may deprive millions of children of protection against the preventable disease, according to Dujarric.
The United Nations called on the parties to the Afghan conflict to protect civilians and aid workers and ensure that civilian infrastructure is not targeted in military operations, Dujarric said.
Afghanistan has been in the grip of a violent internal conflict between the official government and the radical Taliban movement, which had taken control of a significant part of the country's rural area and launched attacks on large cities.
Though the US-negotiated peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban kicked off in September 2020, the negotiations are yet to show any results as the violence has only escalated over the past few months.
