QUETTA, Pakistan — A suicide attack on a polio vaccination center in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday killed 15 people, mainly police who had gathered to escort health workers, who have been repeatedly targeted in recent years by Islamic militants, officials said.
The bombing of the polio center on the outskirts of Quetta killed 13 police, a soldier and a civilian, said Shahzada Farhat, a police spokesman in the city. Another 23 people were wounded.
The suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the police officers, said provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti. “We’re in a war zone,” he added.
The bombing happened outside the polio center shortly before vaccination teams were due to be dispatched to local neighborhoods as part of a three-day immunization campaign, said Syed Imtiaz Shah, the local police chief.
Hours after the attack, Ahmad Marwat, who described himself as a spokesman for Jundullah, or Army of God, a little-known militant group, claimed responsibility without explaining why the center was targeted. He warned of more attacks on polio teams in the future.
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One Response
This sort of thing appears to be common among certain Religion of Peace members. The rationale seems to be that preventing polio causes various sterility or other “problems”. Does this mean that the polio virus assists fertility, etc.? The logic here escapes me. The paranoia is pretty obvious. God pity those who want to be safe from polio.