Two persons, including a Ghanaian national, were injured when unidentified gunmen fired at a UN vehicle near a polio vaccination camp in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Tuesday, officials said.
Two armed men riding a motorcycle intercepted the vehicle as it neared an Afghan refugee settlement in Sohrab Goth area of Karachi and opened fire.
Constant Dedo, a Ghanaian doctor working as a consultant for the World Health Organisation, was visiting a polio vaccination camp at the time. Dedo was hit by two bullets in the stomach while the driver of the vehicle was injured in the arm and neck.
A WHO spokesperson said they were taken to a nearby hospital and their condition was stable. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The gunmen escaped before police reached the spot.
Police officials told the media that the attackers were Afghan men. This was the first time that the staff of WHO have been attacked in Pakistan but the UN agency said it would not suspend its operations.
In a statement, WHO described the shooting as ‘a serious security incident’.
"At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that this was a deliberate or targeted attack against polio eradication efforts or WHO," the statement said.
"Incidents like these highlight the incredible bravery of the more than 200,000 mainly Pakistani volunteers who run every vaccination campaign," it said.