Daesh insurgents have reportedly stopped the national polio vaccination campaign from being carried out in three districts of eastern Nangarhar province, local officials said on Saturday.

Nangarhar officials said Daesh has prevented about 46,000 children from receiving polio vaccines in the three districts.

This comes after the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) launched an anti-polio campaign across the country three days ago.

Najibullah Kamawal, the head of the health department of Nangarhar, said: "Our employees were not able to launch the campaign in Achin, Haskamina and Mina Kot districts in the province due to Daesh presence."

"Regrettably, almost 46,000 children remain deprived of polio vaccination in areas which are under control of Taliban, already there are four cases of polio in this district," head of Nangarhar health department Najibullah Kamawal said.

He also said that Daesh insurgents have closed ten health care centers in these districts.

"In districts where there is control of Daesh, health centers are also closed down and people there face a lot of issues," he said.

Meanwhile, a number of civil society activists and Ulema members in Nangarhar said that "this is oppression by Daesh on children".

"This act demonstrated by the insurgents is an act of oppression against the children. We call on warring factions to cooperate with medical teams," religious scholar Maulavi Abbas said.

The Ulema members and civil society activists called on Daesh to not stop health workers from treating people.