The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the United Nations announced on Monday. Afghanistan is one of two countries where the spread of the deadly and paralyzing disease has not yet been completely stopped. The other country is Pakistan.
News of the suspension was conveyed to UN agencies just before the September immunization campaign was scheduled to begin. No reasons for the suspension were provided, and no one from the Taliban-controlled government was immediately available for comment.
In neighboring Pakistan, anti-polio campaigns are frequently marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and the police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
