Female polio worker shot dead in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: A woman polio worker was shot dead Wednesday by unidentified attackers in the Daudzai area of the district when she was returning home after performing the vaccination duty.

Officials said a Lady Health Worker, Iqra Hayat, had administered polio drops to the children in the area and was going back when targeted by an armed man at the Hamza Garhi, Daudzai. The victim was rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.

An official of the Capital City Police said the post-mortem of the slain health worker was carried out while the police launched a search operation in the area. He said a case was being lodged.

A spokesman of the city police later said the father of the deceased, Hayat Khan, had charged one Saif Ullah of Nowshera in the first information report. He said the family told police that Iqra was engaged to the accused but later they ended the engagement which had angered the accused. Strict security arrangements are made for the polio workers every time in districts where the anti-polio drive is carried out.

Many of the cops have come under attack while providing security to the polio workers in the past. Besides, incidents of target killing have been happening in Peshawar and other districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last several months.