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| - At least four people were killed and four wounded Tuesday in a string of attacks on polio workers in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, the second assault targeting vaccinators in the area in less than three months. "They were there to immunize the children against polio," health ministry spokesman Osman Taheri said, adding the attacks happened in three separate locations over two hours. Nangarhar police spokesman Farid Khan confirmed the attacks. Two polio vaccinators were killed and one wounded in attacks in Khogyani district, while two were killed in Surkhrod. In another attack, three vaccinators were wounded in the provincial capital, Jalalabad. The vaccination drive in the province had now been halted, another health official told AFP. "These were all targeted attacks against polio vaccinators, and for now we have stopped all polio vaccination drives in Nangarhar province," the official said. Tuesday's attacks come less than three months after gunmen shot dead three women polio vaccinators in Jalalabad. The Taliban and religious leaders often tell communities that vaccines are a Western conspiracy aimed at sterilising Muslim children, and they also suspect immunisation drives are used for spying on militant activities. str-us-jds/fox/je
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