Bomb Blast Kills 14 at Polio Center in Quetta, Pakistan

A Pakistani health worker with a police escort administers polio drops to a child during a polio vaccination campaign in Karachi on January 12, 2016.

A suspected suicide bomb attack on a polio vaccination centre in south-west Pakistan has killed 14 people. One civilian was killed, and at least 25 people were injured.

“Today was third day of the campaign and the police were supposed to provide security to the polio teams”, Khan told NBC News. Since the United States claimed the use of a phony vaccination program to track down Osama bin Laden, many in Pakistan have treated vaccination programs as probable shams or foreign plots.

Officials are investigating, but believe it was the work of a suicide bomber.

“Suddenly there was a loud bang and I fell to the ground, I could not see anything, there was dust everywhere”, said Shabir Ahmed, who suffered shrapnel wounds to his stomach, hands legs and feet.

He said: “We are living in a conflict zone and hostile agencies are targeting us”.

Two groups made apparently competing claims of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack. Police and rescue workers reached the site soon after the blast. Another 23 people were wounded.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Quetta Syed Imtiaz Shah is quoted in the report as saying “seven to eight kg explosives were used in the blast.,. most of the victims were policemen, who laid down their lives to guard polio workers”. Teams in Pakistan working to immunize children are often targeted by the Taliban and other militant groups.

Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where polio is endemic, and the attacks have hindered vaccination campaigns.

Nawaz said the country’s valiant security forces were successfully dismantling the infrastructure of terrorist networks.

Pakistan recorded more than 300 cases in 2014 – the highest figure for any country – with 90 per cent of cases recorded in areas where Taliban militants have influence, Ali said.

This latest blast occurred in Quetta, capital of southwestern Balochistan province, which includes also found sporadic assaults on polio teams.