The incident occurred on Tuesday in Karachi’s eastern neighborhood of Soharb Ghoth, as the car for the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO) was heading a polio vaccination camp.
“A WHO vehicle was fired upon with gunshots. One international staff and one local driver were injured in the incident,” WHO spokeswoman Maryam Yunus said.
She said the doctor from Ghana and the Pakistani driver were transferred to a private hospital in the southern port city. “They are out of danger,” she added.
The shooting in Karachi, home to thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants, is seen as the latest sign of resistance to the three-day polio vaccination campaign which was launched in Pakistan on Monday.
Pakistani militants have banned immunizations in the northwest, condemning the campaign as a cover for espionage against senior members of the pro-Taliban groups.
A Pakistani doctor was jailed in May after convicted of allegedly helping the CIA find al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden using a hepatitis vaccination program.
Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. The highly infectious disease is threatening the health of more than 350,000 children in Pakistan.
MRS/JR
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