The Times says that the Taliban “accuses the United States of using a drive to eradicate polio in the country as a cover for spying,” but that isn’t the only reason why they’re murdering polio workers. A Pakistani Muslim cleric has said that polio vaccinations are un-Islamic. And such “extremist” clerics are not just in Pakistan: in Nigeria, a Muslim cleric was arrested for playing a role in sparking the murders of polio workers.
“Vaccine Aide Gunned Down In Pakistan,” by Salman Masood for the New York Times, December 28 (thanks to Twostellas):
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan “” A health worker supervising a polio vaccination campaign was fatally shot and two others were wounded on Saturday when gunmen opened fire at a hospital in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.
No one immediately took responsibility for the killing, but the Taliban, which accuses the United States of using a drive to eradicate polio in the country as a cover for spying, has threatened the lives of health workers who immunize children.
Pakistani officials said two gunmen riding a motorbike had opened fire at a government hospital in Matni, a suburb of Peshawar, the provincial capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Zahid Gul, who was overseeing the vaccination campaign, was killed and another man and a woman were wounded in the attack. The gunmen fled….