Two polio workers among six kidnapped from FR Tank

Published February 17, 2014
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo
In this Feb. 2, 2014 photo, Pakistani police officer stand guard as people who need to vaccinate their children against polio approach health workers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. —AP Photo

PESHAWAR: Six men including two polio workers were kidnapped from a rural area in Frontier Region Tank, official sources told Dawn.com on Monday.

Sources said that a driver accompanying a team of polio vaccination workers and three Khasadar security personnel were also picked up by unknown people while the team was on routine duty in Peeng village in FR Tank.

Sources added that the kidnapped men included Dr Khandad and Fareed Taleem Ullah, who were working for the polio vaccination program.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility of the kidnapping.

The incident comes a day after a policeman deployed for a vaccination campaign was killed in a bomb attack in Peshawar.

FR Tank lies on the outer boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district and separates it from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) governed by tribal laws.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling polio virus remains endemic.

According to the WHO, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012. It warned earlier this year that Peshawar is the world’s “largest reservoir” of polio.

More than 40 health workers and police personnel providing security to teams administering anti-polio drops to children have been killed in incidents of violence in the country since December 2012, according to a tally by news agency AFP.

Opinion

Editorial

Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

THE Indus River System Authority has warned Punjab and Sindh, the main breadbaskets of the country, to brace...
Banning groups
Updated 09 Mar, 2025

Banning groups

The state’s approach of banning groups, and then letting them operate with new monikers, must be revisited.
Targeting students
09 Mar, 2025

Targeting students

THE Trump administration’s mission to ‘Make America Great Again’ is well underway, and, in true Trumpian ...
Torkham dispute
09 Mar, 2025

Torkham dispute

THE Torkham crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has remained closed for two weeks, after a dispute over border...