WHO staff injured in Pakistan (Lead)
July 18th, 2012 - 12:45 am ICT by IANSIslamabad/Geneva, July 17 (IANS) Two World Health Organisation (WHO) officials were injured Tuesday after some unidentified men attacked a UN vehicle in a suburban area of Karachi city.
According to police, Foston, a foreign doctor, and his local driver were injured in the ambush which occurred in Sohrab Goth area. They were rushed to a private hospital for medical treatment, Online news agency reported.
The UN team was on super highway near Sorab Goth when it came under attack, a senior police official told media. The men first blew up the vehicle’s tyres and then opened fire at the occupants.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah condemned the attack and ordered a probe into the incident.
The WHO, in a statement from Geneva, however said that a WHO staffer and an international consultant working for the health agency had been injured in the attack.
The two, working for the ongoing polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan, were provided with rapid medical aid. They are in stable condition, the WHO said.
“At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a deliberate or targeted attack against polio eradication efforts or WHO,” said the WHO, adding that the Pakistan authorities have launched an investigation into the event.
It said that WHO and its partners remain committed to supporting the Pakistani government and the people in their efforts to eradicate polio despite of this incident.
The country is closer than ever to polio eradication, the WHO added.
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Tags: ali shah, chief minister, eradication efforts, health agency, international consultant, medical aid, occupants, pakistani government, police official, polio, polio eradication, polio vaccination, private hospital, qaim ali, stable condition, staffer, suburban area, unidentified men, vaccination campaign, world health organisation