Islamists kill 9 Polio health workers in Northern Nigeria

Nine health workers administering a polio vaccination programme in northern Nigeria were murdered yesterday by gunmen on motorbikes.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack in the city of Kano, but Islamist militant group Boko Haram, a sect that has condemned the use of what it sees as Western medicine, has been blamed for carrying out a spate of assaults on security forces in the city in recent weeks.

It is the second time this year that polio workers have come under attack by Islamist militants after gunmen killed aid workers tackling the disease in Pakistan last month.