Suspected militants yesterday opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in northwestern Pakistan, killing one of them and wounding four others before fleeing the scene, police said.
Two attackers were killed when police returned fire.
The shooting occurred in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province bordering Afghanistan, shortly after Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, local police official Mahmood Alam said.
Photo: EPA
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and local militant groups, which often carry out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only nations where polio has not been eradicated, according to the WHO.
Pakistani first lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated during the week-long drive, which aims to reach more than 45 million children younger than five across all provinces and regions.
She said the campaign would be conducted in coordination with Afghanistan, reflecting a shared commitment to interrupt cross-border transmission and close remaining gaps.
Aseefa is the daughter of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a 2007 gun and bomb attack by militants, and who had personally overseen initiatives aimed at eliminating polio during her tenure.
“Pakistan stands at a crucial moment in the fight against polio,” she said in a statement.
She said that while the nation is closer than ever to eradication, “the final stretch remains the most challenging.”
Highlighting gains, she said 31 polio cases were reported nationwide last year, while only one case has been recorded so far this year, but warned against complacency.
While Pakistan primarily uses door-to-door vaccination teams to reach children at their homes, Afghanistan generally relies on fixed vaccination sites and health facilities.
Afghan Ministry of Public Health spokesman Sharafat Zaman said that the first national polio vaccination campaign of the year has begun, aiming to vaccinate about 12.6 million children younger than five.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program has been running for years, although health workers and police officers assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
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