The WHO on Thursday suspended its activities in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province due to security concerns after four members of a polio vaccination team were gunned down by militants, in one of the deadliest attacks on medical workers in the region.
The attack happened on Wednesday on the eastern outskirts of provincial capital Quetta when a team of seven polio workers was getting ready to launch the fourth and final day of the campaign when two men riding a motorbike opened fire on their vehicle, killing four.
A health official from Quetta said that the World Health Organisation has suspended its operations in Balochistan due to security threats to polio workers.
“The WHO has decided to stop its work until the Government addresses their security concerns,” he said. Unicef has also scaled down its activities in Baluchistan due to security threats to its staff, another official said.