Gunmen have killed a doctor who was a senior member of Pakistan’s polio eradication campaign. 

Zakaullah Khan was shot dead by gunmen on a motorbike near his house late on September 10.

He was a member of Peshawar's polio vaccination campaign near Pakistan's restive tribal belt.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Taliban splinter group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group's spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, vowed to carry out more attacks, in a statement sent to AFP.

Militants say the polio vaccination campaign is a cover for Western spies or a conspiracy to sterilize Pakistani children.

Pakistan hopes to be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries by 2018 by achieving its goal of no new cases for a year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the disease is still endemic.

Based on reporting by AFP and RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal