Taliban to carry out polio vaccinations despite war

The Taliban is planning to carry out a countrywide polio vaccination campaign despite the US-led bombing campaign.

Health Minister, Mullah Abbas Akhund, says he has asked the World Health Organisation to request a ceasefire to allow the campaign to take place, but he's yet to hear anything.

In Islamabad, the WHO says there will be no ceasefire, but says it is be prepared to go ahead with the polio vaccination campaign.

More than 50 Afghans who work for the WHO will take part, along with more than 30,000 volunteers working for Afghanistan's Health Ministry.

The vaccination campaign has been quite successful since it was introduced in 1997, and the WHO wants to carry it out this year as planned, said an official, who requested anonymity.

Akhund says the Taliban also asked the United Nations Children Fund to intervene, but there has been no reply from either the UNICEF or the WHO office. Both are in neighbouring Pakistan.

"We will do the areas we can and we will have to miss those areas affected by the bombardment," he said.

The polio vaccine was supplied to the Taliban by the WHO and UNICEF, which carries out regular vaccination programs in Afghanistan.

In previous years, the two organizations have negotiated cease fires between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance to permit the polio vaccination campaigns.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of the few countries where the disease still persists.