The Pakistani Taliban on Friday denied any involvement in attacks on polio workers, which have killed 21 people since December, but confirmed it opposed the vaccination as "un-Islamic." The umbrella militant faction last year banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Waziristan, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage.
Rumours about vaccines being a plot to sterilise Muslims have also dogged efforts to tackle the highly infectious disease, one of only three countries where it remains endemic. "We have no link with the attacks on polio teams," Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told AFP. "We have very strong reservations against anti-polio vaccines because they are un-Islamic and bad for the health," Ehsan said. He said Pakistanis do not need "sympathy" from the United Nations, which funds vaccination programmes, while US drone strikes target Taliban and al Qaeda operatives in the north-western border areas with Afghanistan.