PESHAWAR: A militant commander in northwest Pakistan has warned polio vaccination teams to stay away from his area bordering Afghanistan. 

The statement by Hafiz Gul Bahadur is an obstacle to efforts to beat polio on Pakistan, one of only three nations where the virus is endemic.

The threat came in a pamphlet distributed Saturday in markets in the troubled North Waziristan tribal region. It said spies could enter the region under the cover of vaccination teams.

Bahadur controls territory there. He has focused on battling US and Nato troops across the border in Afghanistan and is believed to have a truce with the Pakistan army.

Pakistani officials were not available for comment.

The polio virus, which usually infects children living in unsanitary conditions, attacks the nerves and can kill or paralyze.