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Fayaz Aziz / Reuters
A driver who survived a shooting by unidentified gunmen in Swabi arrives at a Peshawar hospital on Tuesday after gunmen ambushed the car filled with aid workers that he was driving.
Updated at 10:20 a.m. ET: PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Motorcycle-riding gunmen shot and killed seven aid workers Tuesday in an ambush near a toll plaza in the Swabi district of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Police said the gunmen rode their motorcycles in front of a van carrying the aid workers in order to stop it before opening fire on members of the nongovernmental organization Support With Working Solutions (SWSS). Six women and one man were shot dead at the scene, District Police Chief Abdur Rasheed Khan said, adding that the van's driver was seriously wounded.
The six women were serving as social workers and the man, a physician, was providing community health services, said Javed Akhtar, chief executive of Support With Working Solutions. They had just come from a meeting at a community center run by the organization.
Khan said the bodies of the victims were taken to the regional Shah Mansoor Hospital in Swabi.
Threats
He noted that NGO workers, particularly women, had been receiving threats from unknown people.
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Akhtar said his organization, which receives funding from the United Nations and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, has for now halted its work.
"We suspended our services due to threats to our staff members," Akhtar said. "We have 160 staff members, most of them females, working with the government in health education in underdeveloped areas of the country."
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Akhtar said the group has been working in Swabi for two years but had never previously felt serious dangers.
“We are working since 1992 in Pakistan and set up our services in Swabi two years ago, but we never faced any such threat, as all our staff was local," he said, adding, "This seemed to be part of a campaign against the polio drive."
Muhammed Muheisen / AP
Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.
Last month, gunmen killed nine health workers taking part in a national polio vaccination drive in a series of attacks. Most of the victims were young women earning about $2 a day.
The Taliban said it did not carry out those attacks, although its leaders have repeatedly denounced the vaccination program as a plot to sterilize people or spy on Muslims.
Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com
Aid workers have frequently been kidnapped or killed in Pakistan, a nation of 180 million that is struggling to contain a Taliban insurgency and plagued by endemic corruption and violent crime.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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The Taliban think there is a plot to sterilize Muslims? Hmmm, that does have a certain appeal for westerners, I suppose. Is sterilization too humane for the Taliban? The methods they themselves use to kill other Muslims (every day) are much more fun? More manly?
Why bother? Let's just get India to nuke the fluckers.
We cannot protect these NGO's nor will the host governments and therefore we must INSIST that they withdraw their services. As usual, the real losers will be the poor in Pakistan and (of course) Afghanistan.
I have never heard of a vaccination that causes sterility, but those darn Taliban do have a good idea there. Maybe we should be working on that.
Sterilization for Muslims is starting to sound like a good idea. Bunch of barbaric 7th century camel herders who refuse to join the civilized world. Personally I think we should dispose of dead Islamic radicals by dumping their remains in with the feces and guts of pigs from slaughterhouses. Now excuse me while I go take a piss on their holy book.
I would be in favor of reducing the population of just about any country in the world. We have far too many people as it is now. I would not advocate killing, but keep from propagating. I guess that we could go ahead with the vaccination plan as has been discussed elsewhere.
Looking at that photo of "everyday" pakistan, it looks like a quick snap of life in hell with it's damned souls.... With the World Problems going on, muslim/islamic overpopulation, murder, mayhem and horror??? 7BILLION+ and counting... There is NOT room nor sustinence for this religous/racial dysfunctional cult of "them"...please see the motion picture with James Arness circa 1953...............
Uh oh! It's Hillary and Obama's fault. We need an investigation!
Just the latest PR stunt from those zaney kids in the Taliban.What would you expect from a group educated by only one book,......... more drones please
Pakistan has become a perfect example of what happens when the irrationality spawned by religious zeal overtakes rational thinking. Eventually, Pakistan will sink into the true barbarism of which today's violent events are only a foretaste.
The Muslim tradition of withholding criticism of even the most violent, extremist Muslims will come back to haunt them all. (And yet they complain if someone draws a cartoon of Muhammed!!)
Same #&*^, different day.......... Happy new year from the religion of peace.
Tom: in your Senior year in high school, you'll learn that Pakistan ALSO HAS NUKES. Indeed, they have better delivery systems (missiles) than India for nukes. Also, 'let's just get India'.....doesn't work that way Tom. India would tell us to pound sand!
Maybe we should stop protecting them from polio. better off if they get it.
Terrorist have kids too. When they see their little children all fuuuked up they might see the light.
The best form of birth control in pakistan is to remove the veil off of the womens faces there. That will make a dick limp in nanoseconds
More reasons as to why we should stop all U.S. aid money to Pakistan and stop issuing Visas to the Pakis to come here. The Pakis here are just like their tribal brothers.
Declare Pakistan, Somalia and some more basket case nations as terrorist nations.
Time has come to stop pouring our hard earned tax monies into the dirtiest Islamic swamp on earth ever seen.
Change the requirments for immigration to keep out the Pakis. These liabilities to society and nation come with their Islamic and tribal baggage.
As Salman Rushdie has pronounced, "Pakistan is a failed state." Partition was the worst of all possible worlds, but after WWII the Brits could not afford to stay and partitions was what the Muslim politicians claimed their people wanted. They can now be partitioned from the rest of the world and kicked OUT of the UN.
"Aid workers have frequently been kidnapped or killed in Pakistan, a nation of 180 million that is struggling to contain a Taliban insurgency and plagued by endemic corruption and violent crime."
Even helping Pakis was a thankless job and now it has been reduced to getting killed!
What a level of Islamic religious madness!
Mind you: Pakistan is a pure Islamic nation.
If these are the conditions in a Pure Islamic nation, imagine the conditions in impure Islamic/Muslim nations!
Jonathan-1982062-(Mind you: Pakistan is a pure Islamic nation)
Actually, Pakistan is not a pure Islamic nation, as other religions, including Christianity, which comprises the largest minority, is practiced there.With a population just under 3,000,000.Followed by Hindu 2,800,000 and others less.
You say this is a thankless job. How do you know that? I imagine it wasn't thankless to all those humble men, women and children, these wonderful health workers helped.So they could have a better life in the end. I believe the poor expressed their gratitude, who desperately needed the compassion of their own people. To reach out and help lift them up, in understanding the knowledge of how to take the proper steps so they could live longer. Rather than watching their children and other loved ones fall ill, and die, helpless in the end.
What those courageous workers did, for just $2.00 a day, was to risk their lives, so others could live with hope and opportunities. Exactly how many in our country would be willing to put their life on the line,day after day,for so little? It is so easy for us, thousands of miles away, to simply say, walk away, it is a thankless job. Who never have seen the smiles of children's faces,a mother's joy and father's appreciation.
Finally, hatred is hatred, no matter what mask it hides behind. For anyone to condemn one group as being worthy of death for its practices of intolerance and evil works, including death, and then wishing some horrible,cruel and disgusting actions to befall them, in the most graphic manners, with all those who are of that faith to suffer that faith, is to be just as guilty of the same intolerance as the group they blantenly claim to condemn.
For what difference are the mind set between the two, if both advocate destruction of those who think differently? It is the one who keeps their humanity, compassion, morality and refuses to allow the civilized man to be overtaken by his animalistic nature.
The Motive? How about just shear hatred, bigotry, ignorance of backwards peoples. Aid workers that never hurt or killed anyone are murdered just because of despicable ruthless humans. Get out, stay out and no more monies thrown to the winds to these type of countries. They hate us whether we give them billions or not.
I only see hundreds of years of this continued insanity in the region. Pak and Afg are failed states.
Bus the few sane ones out who want to live out and bomb the rest.
Oh geez, how could these gunmen not want the children of their country to be vaccinated and their people to receive medical care? They're treating these brave aid workers who risk their lives to do good and help people like criminals. I commend all the people who want better lives for the people of their country and try to help by offering their services. They are heros. The gunmen are cowards. I hope they're caught and brought to justice. Who the heck wants people of their country to get Polio? Don't they want their peoples' lives and health to improve? I guess not.
They will be brought to an Islamic justice, the same justice which bans anything modern. Not only is it time to curtail funding for Pakistan, it is also time to remove it as a news item. It can just as easily be replaced by news from the African Continent, or the South American Continent. We can live without them purposely promoting the cancellation of disease prevention, as if the 72 virgins in Heaven need a polio victim as their companion for eternity.
Tie the aid to progress.... For every "unknown" aid worker attack... the less money they get... this will either cause them to step up or watch their gravy train slowly, inexorably dry up. Also another point.. I don't see the same extremism rampant in Christianity as those coming out of Muslim nations... Many have pointed to ALL religions being bad.. Not wanting to change the thread but I don't see Muslims as a "peaceful" religion.
The fundies don't care. They have no desire to provide a good life for their families. All they care about is killing.
As soon as the civilized world realizes that islam is not a religion as is nothing more than an evil virus (mohammed being patient zero) the better we will be able to deal with it. A virus spreads without an intelligent, logical agenda leaving nothing but death, destruction and despair in its wake. A virus creates nothing, has no conscience, remorse or humanity, attacks the weak and helpless, and virtually infects everyone it comes into contact with. A virus produces nothing but itself and always and most certainly leaves the stench of death as its by- product. Science has never cured a virus. The only thing humanity can do is isolate the virus from the non-infected, and pretty soon the virus will kill all of its hosts. No hosts..........no virus. I.E. Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Libya........need I say more? As a Native American I wholeheartedly tell the infected, "Please stay where you are and do not come to the USA, we are all stocked up on crazy already. If you live here already, please leave. Let me know where you are and I will come over, help you pack, and also arrange for your air fare. In case you are wondering, yes... I am serious.
Actually Islam is a distributed form of government. Once the civilized world recognizes it as such then it can be dealt with properly.
I don't know if there's a god, but If there is then I know that Islam must be the religion of Satan. Bloodlust, death, violence, rape, degradation of women, intolerance etc. They've got the whole package.
Rizter. You just described our own Republican Party, think about it. Bloodlust, equals two wars. Violence, equal war on the middle class. Rape, equals a party that questions whether it was Legal Rape. Dedgradation of women, Republicans are chomping at the bit to take away womens rights. Intolerance, the Republicans have no tolerance except for the Rich. Yep, You just made a true statement about the Republican Taliban right here in River City.
islam remains satan's Greatest Lie. Pakistan is Living Daily Proof to the World. For those with Ears to Hear and Eyes to See.
One more example of Islamic madness has no limits!
Oh, yes! More "peaceful initentions" from the "religion of peace!"
"The Taliban said it did not carry out those attacks, although its leaders have repeatedly denounced the vaccination program as a plot to sterilize people or spy on Muslims."
This statement shows just how ignorant and paranoid this barbaric "religion" is. Pathetic bunch of b@startds!
I have read every comment up to the one previous to this. Not one has a positive comment regarding Pakistan. Not one. What does that tell me? It tells me that the writers on this vine are more connected with the world than the fools who think that Pakistan (and other 'stans, and the Middle East) is a friendly, successful nation. IMO, it truly is the rectum of the world, and the only thing that can be done for it is "wiping" it.
I really try to be optimistic, but I can find nothing positive in a nation that goes about killing the very people who can help them. It's a maddog analogy in that it bites the hand that feeds it. We humanely put down maddogs in this country, and it's something to be considered.
Unfair? Bigoted? Angry? Say what you will. I do not support the continued violence, murder, rape, mutilation, lying, etc. that these nations encourage, fund, back, and worship.
Living in the US, some will point and say, "Yes, you are violent, too." My reply is that yes, we have violence, but we also prosecute that violence, defend the innocent, and don't make violence a habit of everyday life. It happens, but we don't encourage it.
(I did appreciate the virus statement earlier. It's very applicable.)
Islam is like a spreading gangrene infection. Everywhere it goes it brings bloodlust, hatred, intolerance, degradation of women and drags the local culture back a few centuries.
It's horrible and makes Pakistani society look bad.
But I wonder how the rest of the world sees the US After the Sandy Hook massacre and the 2nd amendment nuts shouting about their sacred guns as they roll around in the blood of children.
But clearly, Pakistan has the animals- not America - right?
There is a difference when someone is just plain crazy and kills for no apparent reason, than someone who kills without reason or remorse and then claims that they performed the murder for God.
How sad that you do not have the intelligence to see the difference.
"Life is tough, it is even tougher when you are stupid." John Wayne
"With the gift of intelligence often comes the great epiphany that you may be completely wrong about your beliefs, for once you have placed a label on the box you have constructed from your beliefs, you cease to possess the ability to perceive outside its constraints." Seven
You're comparing the rampage of one lunatic to the nonstop rampages brought to us in the name of God from Islamic radicals? Apples and oranges my friend.
So what's your point???? The difference is really quite simple, from tme to time we have isolated incidents of craziness. Generally, however, we don't target people who are trying to help people. I would guess there are as many or more weapons in the hands of nuts in Pakistan than here in the US.
Lowly uneducated criminals..... no different than drug cartels, gun runners, neighborhood thugs, rapist and common criminals that pray amongst the innocent !! Religious zealots whose criminal minds defy any reason nor explanation of their warp views of life on this planet, and their reasons for taking it. -Total human garbage !!
Big Lou. Great description of the Republican Party in the U.S.
wascigarman
What is your damage? This thread is about Pakistan. You've brought Republicans into both your comments. You are trying to hijack this column and turn it into a political rant.
Grow up, try to stick to the subject.
Stop all aid to this and other thankless sh!tholes.
Gee. Pakistan. Murders. How unusual! I think I need to take a nap now.
Well, the Taliban has once again proven they only want to murder people. Why is it that the Pakis themselves just cannot seem to understand these radical bastards?
Happy New Year - Infidels!
Islam, the religion of peace? With all the islamic violence in the world how can anyone believe this is a peaceful religion? To those that believe it is certainly haven't read the koran. The book promotes violence and killing. No other current day religion professes such barbaric actions. Islam is much like the old Nazi movement in Germany, the KKK in America and many other violent sects in the world.
According the the Koran nonbelievers must either convert or die by the sword. That means ALL OF US. It's right there in their cursed unholy book.
The problem with Islam is that the so called 'peaceful muslims' are far to tolerant of the deviants. Christianity has some wacky groups like the Westboro Baptist church, FLDS church and others, but they're not mainstream and most normal people don't put up with them.
Sharia Law is pure EVIL by definition and must be stomped out somehow, but the moderate Muslims seem content to just let their radical brothers spread this evil at will.
JQpubicus: ARe you serious? comparing law abiding citizens who object to the government from coming in and taking away their ability to defend themselves and others like your sorry butt with the radical islamic types only goes to show your own level of ignorance. Did you know that if that van of aid workers was full of 2nd amendment gun toting americans, they would have at least stood a chance of repelling the attack? Your solution to ban guns would have done absolutely nothing to stop this attack or its outcome. I'm sure if every gun in the world was confiscated the crazy radicals would just all of a sudden become much better people. "Gee, no more guns? Well, I guess I am okay with educating women and defending the rights of the oppressed! I feel so much better now that I don't have access to a gun and I would never dream of resorting to other methods like blowing everybody up!!" At some point liberals have to pull their heads out of their "Obama's" and get a grasp on reality....
It's time for some tough love. STOP all aid, STOP all money, MAKE them responsible for themselves, they will implode. With every dollar that we invest in these crazy countries we are simply aiding and abetting. Let them have what it is that that think they want. Give it to them and at the same time cut them off from the rest of the world.
I'm with you, maybe they need to start climbing the evolution tree instead of being pulled up and doing nothing for the advancements that they don't even appreciate.
These attackers are not in the habit of leaving survivors. When transporting aid workers in an area where aid workers and their assistants are routinely murdered, do not stop for motorcycles; run them over and apologize later. I wonder if the driver was assisting the attackers? I wonder how severe his wounds are, and whether he's been involved in any other events.
When are people going to realize that you cannot help IDIOTS? I hope that the United States pull all aid workers back to the United States. Believe me, the United States could use a lot of aid right now, after the way the Republicans and Bush left the United States. All countries should pull aid from the Middle East and maybe these Idiots would go back to killing each other.