Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Polio Returns to Kabul
There were just 14 cases of polio in Afghanistan last year, but none in Kabul in over a decade. Until now. “An Afghan girl has been diagnosed with polio in Kabul – the capital’s first case since the Taliban’s fall in 2001. The health ministry ordered a vaccination campaign across the capital after the three-year-old was diagnosed. Polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern Nigeria, but has been almost wiped out around the world. In all three countries Islamic extremists have obstructed health workers, preventing polio eradication campaigns from taking place, Since the Afghan Taliban changed their policy, allowing vaccination in recent years, there has been a decline in cases in Afghanistan.” (BBC http://bbc.in/1nr1YCy)
Humanitarian Evacuation of Homs Continues As Ceasefire Extended for 3 Days
Nearly 1,000 have been evacuated. “Aid officials rushed to evacuate more women, children and elderly from rebel-held areas that have been blockaded by government troops for more than a year in Syria’s third-largest city, Homs, after a U.N.-brokered cease-fire in the city was renewed for three more days Monday. The truce, which began Friday, has been shaken by continued shelling and shooting that prevented some residents from escaping and limited the amount of food aid officials have been able to deliver into the besieged neighborhoods.” (WaPo http://lat.ms/1nr2m3I)