5 polio vaccination workers killed in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province

As many as five health workers were killed and four others wounded in five separate shooting incidents during a polio vaccination drive in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Tuesday.

Ataullah Khogyani, spokesperson for the provincial governor said that the incidents occurred when unknown gunmen fired on the polio vaccination teams in the provincial capital Jalalabad city and suburban districts of Khogiani and Surkh Rod, TOLOnews reported.

The spokesperson said that two of the wounded are in critical condition. He added that special security measures were not provided to the health workers despite security agencies have been asked to cooperate with health workers.

This comes amid the Afghan health ministry's nationwide campaign to give polio vaccination doses to millions of Afghan children under the age of 5.

No group has claimed responsibility for shooting attacks so far. Earlier, three female vaccinators were shot dead in Nangarhar in two separate incidents in March.

Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio cases are reported every year, according to Afghan public health officials.

( With inputs from ANI )

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