By Hamza Ameer Peshawar : , December 13, 2013 – The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terror group (TTP) has increased its targeting of security personnel in the country after a ceasefire that lasted a month.
Unidentified gunmen killed a police officer who was protecting a team of polio vacciners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KP), on Sunday.
This is the second such shooting in the past two days.
Two men associated with TTP shot and killed a policeman who was protecting another team of polio vacciners in the area on Saturday.
Sajjad Khan (district police chief for Tank), stated that two gunmen on motorbikes opened fire at a guard who was protecting a female polio vaccine team of Sheikh Uttar.He died instantly.
Although no organization claimed Sunday’s attack, the militant group stated that they carried out an earlier one.
TTP has refused to extend the ceasefire that had been in place for a month with Pakistani government.
They accused Pakistani authorities in violation of the agreements and they rejected the possibility of further extension.
Noor Ali Mehsud (a top leader in TTP) stated that there was no progress made during the new negotiations with the government.
Mehsud was heard calling on his TTP fighters to restart their attacks as the ceasefire agreement term had ended and that it would not be extended any further.
TTP has had a rigid standing against the polio vaccination campaign in the country.
It claims that the vaccination campaigns are a western conspiracy to sterilise children.
It should be noted that late Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, KP, was found through a similar polio vaccination campaign, which was carried out by doctor Shakil Afridi.
The menace of terrorism has haunted Pakistan for decades now, while polio has remained rampant.Pakistan has been struggling to curb the spread of the virus, making such polio vaccination drives pivotal to the cause.
The World Health Organization (WHO) made it mandatory for all people travelling from Pakistan to have polio vaccination certificate.
Pakistan government maintains that it would call on TTP to extend the ceasefire agreement, insisting that it is ready to abide by the agreed terms of the agreement.
However, the country’s leadership has also warned that any terror activity by the group will be dealt with accordingly.
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