Afghan group opposed to Taliban rule rejects accusation that its members killed polio vaccinators

Refuting the claims, the group called the arrest a Taliban ‘propaganda’

Health workers administer a polio vaccine to a child during a polio vaccination campaign (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A group resisting the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has rejected the police's accusation that it had killed health workers administrating polio vaccinations.

Four people were arrested in connection to the death of seven health workers, who were killed on 24 February in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province, in separate attacks during a house-to-house vaccination campaign.

One more vaccinator was killed in the neighbouring province of Takhar, taking the toll to eight.

The police reportedly said two members of the National Resistance Front (NRF) were arrested in connection with the killings and had confessed to their crime.

“In connection with this incident, we have arrested a group of four people who martyred two members of the Islamic Emirate forces and seven vaccinators, including four women and two men. The perpetrators have pleaded guilty,” Mawlawi Najibullah Haroon, chief of the Kunduz intelligence department, was quoted as saying by Tolo News.

The NRF, which were the last group to fight the Taliban regime in the Panjshir valley nestled in the Hindu Kush mountains and located 90 miles from the capital Kabul, has dubbed the allegations as "propaganda".

The last fortress eventually fell in September, weeks after the Taliban laid siege to Kabul on 15 August.

"The National Resistance Front condemns the perpetrators of this attack and we strongly believe it was conducted by the Taliban or one of their terrorist partners," spokesman Ali Nazary told AFP.

These were the first attacks on health workers since the nationwide polio eradication campaign resumed in November 2021, the United Nations noted while condemning the brutal killings.

The attacks prompted the UN to suspend the vaccination campaign in Kunduz and Takhar provinces with immediate effect. "This senseless violence must stop immediately, and those responsible must be investigated and brought to justice. These attacks are a violation of international humanitarian law," the UN said in a statement.

Polio workers were frequently targeted by militant groups in Afghanistan, which is the only other country apart from Pakistan, where polio is still endemic. However, since the Taliban's takeover, the Islamist group has shown their willingness to work with the UN to eradicate the virus.

In February, the de facto Taliban government with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN's child body launched a campaign to inoculate 9.1 million children under the age of five.