Taliban bans polio vaccine staff after claims that they aided US drone strikes

Militants block WHO and Red Cross access to large parts of Afghanistan over fears of spying on leaders

TALIBAN commanders have banned health workers, including polio vaccinators, from swathes of Afghanistan after accusing them of collecting intelligence used to target militant leaders.

The insurgent movement has blocked both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Red Cross from operating in areas under their control.

Its military commission alleges internationally backed health workers collect information used to find and kill Taliban leaders in special forces raids and air strikes.

More than 180,000 children have gone without polio vaccinations in parts of southern Afghanistan in the past two months because of the ban, which comes as health officials fear the eradication campaign is stalling.

Afghanistan is one of only three countries still harbouring the crippling virus, alongside neighbouring Pakistan, and Nigeria.

The WHO is negotiating with the Taliban to try to regain access. Sources familiar with the discussions said Taliban commanders had been unsettled by the recent accuracy of an Afghan and US military campaign to kill senior fighters. Several had resorted to blaming vaccination programmes.

“The military commission blames it for drone strikes and successful targeting,” said one source. “[Taliban opponents] are hoping the embarrassment factor of the rising number of cases will have an effect on the Taliban.

“Also they will see air strikes are continuing even though there are no vaccinators out there.”

The insurgents want vaccinators to stop delivering polio drops door-todoor, and instead to administer vaccines from a central point, such as a village mosque. But doctors warn such a method would not reach enough children to stamp out the virus.

Seven cases have been found in Afghanistan so far this year, compared with nine in the whole of 2018.

The challenges of vaccinating in southern Afghanistan meant there was now a reservoir of vulnerable children, the WHO said last week.

“The critical issue of access is seriously hampering progress towards global eradication and needs to be resolved,” a statement said.

Suspicion of the vaccination programme echoes difficulties in Pakistan where conspiracy theories that polio drops are a plot to sterilise Muslims, or are dangerous to children, are rife.

The disclosure that the CIA worked with a Pakistani doctor to set up a fake vaccination programme collecting DNA samples in the hunt for Osama bin Laden only added to suspicion.

The WHO said: “We are concerned about the implications on health delivery for affected populations.”