7 more health workers killed in Pakistan in attacks suspected to be linked to murders of polio vaccinators

"Gunmen ambushed and shot dead six Pakistani women aid workers and a male doctor on Tuesday, police said, and the charity they worked for said it suspected the attacks were linked to recent murders of polio vaccination workers," Reuters reports. "Two weeks ago, gunmen killed nine health workers taking part in a national polio vaccination drive in a series of attacks," the news agency notes (Ahmad/Houreld, 1/1). The murders of the polio workers "brought the work of 225,000 vaccinators to a standstill," the New York Times writes, adding, "Polio eradication officials have promised to regroup and try again. But first they must persuade the killers to stop shooting workers and even guarantee safe passage." The newspaper examines the history of resistance to polio vaccination campaigns in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Mali (McNeil, 12/24).