Islamabad: In the most recent assault claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, a soldier from Pakistan was killed on Wednesday when militants opened fire on a polio vaccination team, according to the country's military.
Inoculation teams have been the target of attacks that have claimed hundreds of lives in Pakistan's efforts to eradicate polio over the course of more than a decade. In a statement about the attack in the former tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, the military claimed that "terrorists attempted to disrupt the ongoing polio campaign by firing on the members of the polio team."
A soldier who had been sent in to guard the vaccination team was killed in a firefight, it continued.
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After the US Central Intelligence Agency staged a phoney vaccination drive to aid in the capture of Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, extreme opposition to vaccinations of all kinds grew.
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In a statement to the media, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is waging a campaign against security forces, claimed responsibility for the attack. Since the Afghan Taliban retook power in nearby Afghanistan, Pakistan has been dealing with an increase in militancy.
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Historically a hotbed of militancy, North Waziristan was the target of a protracted Pakistani military offensive and US drone attacks during the occupation of Afghanistan after September 11, 2001