Washington has refused to cut back on the number of drone strikes. Pakistan authorities say they’ve already completed an initial round of anti-polio vaccinations, the second round was due to commence Wednesday.
Source/Credit: Newsy
By Anthony Martinez | June 18, 2012
Pakistani Taliban officials have placed a ban on all polio vaccinations in order to halt U.S. drone attacks.
The Pakistani Taliban is banning of hundreds of thousands of U.S.-funded polio vaccinations in the region’s tribal belt. It’s being presented as something of an ultimatum to the United States: Stop drone strikes or see polio vaccinations blocked. Here’s the headline from WSOC:
“A Taliban commander says it will ban polio vaccines until the U.S. stops drone strikes in northwest Pakistan. The Taliban says drone strikes are causing mental problems which are worse than polio.”
The ban comes shortly after a Taliban statement released Saturday blames U.S. drone strikes. According to The Inquisitr, the statement reads...
“On one hand, the U.S. spends millions of dollars to eliminate polio, while on the other hand it kills hundreds with the help of its slave, Pakistan.”
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative ranks polio as endemic in Pakistan. According to UNICEF, the country accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cases worldwide. In 2011, covert side missions were carried out during U.S. polio relief efforts. CNN reports, those missions could be to blame for halting the country’s polio campaign.
“The country's polio campaign made headlines last year when a Pakistani doctor was linked to a CIA operation to verify Osama bin Laden's whereabouts... [A]id groups and Pakistani health officials have said the CIA's alleged meddling ... undermined Pakistan's efforts to eradicate polio.”
Despite Taliban efforts to deter drone attacks, aid groups say the majority of the country’s polio vaccinations needed are for children. The New York Times reports the amount of vaccines being withheld are soaring in the thousands.
“...Unicef says that 143,000 of the area’s 161,000 children younger than 5 were reached in the last round of oral vaccinations from June 4 to 6. Health officials say that in active polio zones it is vital that children receive several doses of vaccine over time.”
Washington has refused to cut back on the number of drone strikes. Pakistan authorities say they’ve already completed an initial round of anti-polio vaccinations, the second round was due to commence Wednesday.
Read original post here: Taliban to Ban Polio Vaccinations Over U.S. Drone Strikes
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