U.N. vehicle fired upon in Pakistan; foreign doctor injured

Unidentified gunmen on Tuesday opened fire on a U.N. vehicle in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi injuring a foreign doctor working on a polio immunisation campaign and a local driver.

The U.N. Land Cruiser vehicle was passing through Koochi Camp near Sohrab Goth when the motorcycle-borne gunmen fired.

Police said the Ghanaian doctor, identified only as Fostan, was going to a polio immunisation clinic in Koochi Camp, one of the Afghan refugee settlements here, when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle.

Police sources said the doctor and his driver had received injuries and were taken to hospital.

Initial investigations showed that two young Afghan men had opened fire on the vehicle.

Taliban commanders have banned the polio immunisation drive in the North and South Waziristan claiming they would not allow it until the U.S. stops its drone attacks on innocent people.

“One of our drivers and a health staff member were injured but they are presently both stable”, the spokesman from the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

Additional Inspector General of Police Iqbal Mahmood said that the doctor had not informed them about his movements for today.

“Otherwise we provide police protection to all foreigners in Karachi, specially when they are moving around,” Iqbal said.

He said police had arrested four suspects with arms from the refugee camp.