Do You Know Why Al Qaeda is Targeting Polio Vaccine Workers In Pakistan?

With a few drops of vaccine, Gulnaz shields another child from the devastating effects of polio.

 

It's a simple but potentially life-saving task. It's also incredibly dangerous -- not for the children, but for Gulnaz, who works in one of the most violent parts of Karachi.

 

Last year, her niece and sister-in-law -- also polio workers -- were gunned down by men on motorcycles. The U.N.'s children's agency, UNICEF, said they were shot to death for vaccinating the children

 

But the deaths haven't stopped Gulnaz, who is using one name for safety reasons.

 

"Everybody in my family was suffering from shock. Some of them tried to stop me, telling me not to do this job anymore because two coffins leaving one house leaves a mark," she said.

 

Anti-polio campaigns have been targeted by militants ever since U.S. intelligence used a fake vaccination program to help in its hunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011. The CIA used a fake vaccination program to collect DNA samples from residents of bin Laden's compound to verify his presence there.

 

That wasn't a polio campaign, but the fallout still lingers. Since July 2012, at least 22 polio workers have been killed.

 

Still, Gulnaz remains undeterred.

"After this tragedy, I'm not scared at all. In fact, I feel even stronger and more determined," she said. "Every woman in this country who is doing this job is praying for me. When I'm working in the field I'm with my partner, but I also sense that my niece and sister-in-law who were killed are walking alongside me."

 

Gulnaz and her partner are escorted by paramilitary soldiers who seal off the area -- guarding each end of a street to ensure that young children get access to the crucial drops of vaccine that most parents and children around the world can simply get from their local doctor.

 

Unrelenting attacks

On Monday alone, two people were killed and 13 others were wounded in a bombing that targeted polio workers in northwest Pakistan, police said.

 

That blast took place on the outskirts of the violence-plagued city of Peshawar.

 

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