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Three Polio Workers Killed In Eastern Afghanistan


An Afghan policeman stands guard as a health worker administers polio drops to a child during a polio vaccination campaign on the outskirts of Jalalabad on January 26.
An Afghan policeman stands guard as a health worker administers polio drops to a child during a polio vaccination campaign on the outskirts of Jalalabad on January 26.

Afghan officials say three health workers involved in vaccinating Afghan children against polio have been killed in eastern Kunar Province.

Local government spokesman Abdul Ghani Musamim said on February 7 the bodies of the health workers were found in Kunar's Ghaziabad district late on February 6, almost two weeks after they had gone missing.

"A vaccinator and a district health supervisor were kidnapped with their driver 12 days ago," the spokesman said.

Polio vaccinators are regularly targeted in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, in areas outside government control, slowing progress in wiping out the debilitating disease.

In a separate incident, an Afghan policeman was killed was killed in a roadside-bomb explosion in the province of Logar on February 7.

Provincial government spokesman Salim Saleh said eight others were injured in the blast that took place in Puli Alim, the capital of the province.

The head provincial judge, Haqiq Rahman, and the head of the city's appeals court, Abdul Rahman, as well as two other judges were among the wounded, the spokesman said.

No one claimed responsibly for the attack.

Based on reporting by AP and khaama.com
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