Marrakesh, Mar. 12. (Morocco-News) –
Afghan authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of four people suspected of involvement in the killing of four health workers who were working on a polio vaccination campaign in Kunduz province.
Six of the health workers were shot, along with four boys and three girls, officials said, saying the shooters had been sent from Panjshir province.
The detainees are said to have confessed to having taken part in the attack and that a “warlord” had paid them 30,000 Afghanis (about 300 euros) for each of the deaths.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that eight vaccination campaign workers were killed on February 24 in the northern provinces of Kunduz and Tajar, and that the vaccination campaign has been suspended in these two provinces.
The polio vaccination campaign was reactivated in November after the Taliban gave the go-ahead for such vaccinations after seizing power in August following then-President Ashraf Ghani’s flight from his rapid progress towards the capital, Kabul.
Polio, a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children, is transmitted mainly by the fecal-oral route, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The virus is only endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Nigeria declaring eradication in 2020.