In PESHAWAR, Pakistan, a recent incident involved a roadside bomb that targeted a vehicle carrying officers who were protecting health workers conducting a polio immunization drive in South Waziristan, a region in northwestern Pakistan formerly controlled by the Pakistani Taliban. The explosion resulted in injuries to six officers and three civilians, according to local officials.
No polio workers were harmed in the attack, as confirmed by Tahrir Sarfraz, a police official in the area. There have been no claims of responsibility for the bombing, which seemed to be aimed at the police officers.
Incidents of violence often disrupt anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan. Extremists frequently target vaccination teams and the accompanying police officers, falsely alleging that the programs are part of a Western plot to sterilize children.
This attack occurred shortly after Pakistan initiated a massive effort to vaccinate 30 million children against polio. The country has reported 17 new polio cases since the beginning of the year, undermining the extensive work done to eradicate the disease.
Pakistan, along with its neighbor Afghanistan, are the only two countries where the transmission of polio has not been halted. Polio, a potentially fatal and paralyzing disease, mainly affects children under the age of 5 and is commonly spread through contaminated water sources.
