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Today's Paper | November 19, 2024

Updated 18 Jan, 2018 02:05pm

2 female polio workers shot dead in Quetta

Two female members of a polio vaccination team in Quetta were shot dead on Thursday, DawnNews reported.

Police sources said unidentified miscreants opened fire on the polio team in the Shalkot area, killing a mother-daughter duo in what law enforcers believe is a targeted attack.

The assailants escaped unhurt from the site of the attack, police said, as a heavy contingent of law enforcers and Frontier Corps reached the area.

This is the second incident of violence in Quetta today. Earlier today, two policemen were shot dead in a targeted attack in the Zarghoon Road area.

Attacks targeting polio teams have decreased in frequency over the last few years.

The last major attack targeting a polio vaccination team in Quetta took place two years ago in Jan 2016 in the Satellite Town area. At least 13 policemen and a civilian were killed in the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan-claimed suicide attack near a polio centre.

Polio teams have been the target of militants allegedly after the Taliban spread rumours that the vaccination drives were a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

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