In Khar, Pakistan, gunmen riding motorcycles attacked a team of polio workers escorted by police during a vaccination campaign, resulting in the tragic deaths of an officer and a polio worker, as per the police. The incident took place in Bajur, a region in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that was once a Pakistani Taliban stronghold, stated local police chief Abdul Aziz.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, as mentioned by Abdul Aziz. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi denounced the assault.
Pakistan recently commenced a nationwide polio vaccination drive due to an uptick in militant activities. Polio, a potentially deadly and paralyzing disease, predominantly affects children under five years old and is commonly transmitted through contaminated water sources.
On the same day, another attack occurred when a roadside bomb targeted a vehicle transporting officers safeguarding health workers administering polio vaccines in South Waziristan district, injuring six officers and three civilians. The Islamic State group later claimed accountability for this incident.
The polio vaccination campaigns in Pakistan are frequently disrupted by violence. Extremists target vaccination teams and the accompanying police, baselessly asserting that these efforts are part of a Western scheme to sterilize children.
Since the start of the year, Pakistan has reported a total of 17 new polio cases, endangering the extensive work put into eradicating the disease within the country. Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only nations where poliovirus transmission has never been halted.