PESHAWAR, Pakistan — On Tuesday, militants launched an assault on a health facility involved in the anti-polio initiative in northwestern Pakistan, resulting in a shootout that claimed the life of a police officer. During the confrontation, three of the assailants were also reported dead, according to local officials.
The incident occurred in Orakzai, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, known as a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. A police officer, Adnan Khan, reported that the attack took place in the morning as health workers prepared to embark on a door-to-door vaccination campaign, accompanied by police who provide security for the teams.
Fortunately, none of the polio workers were injured in this attack, although another police officer sustained injuries. Khan highlighted the quick response of law enforcement during these types of dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, it was reported that militants also targeted another health center in North Waziristan, another area previously under Taliban control in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These attackers reportedly confiscated firearms from police personnel and threatened health workers not to participate in the anti-polio campaign. Local police officer Shoib Khan provided minimal details regarding this incident, but confirmed that the intruders departed with the weapons they had taken.
Polio workers and police officers are frequently targeted by militants in Pakistan, who assert that vaccination campaigns are part of a Western plot to sterilize children. As a result, the country, alongside Afghanistan, remains one of the last two nations worldwide where polio has not been completely eradicated. In its most severe manifestation, polio can lead to lifelong paralysis or even death.
On the preceding Monday, Pakistan initiated another nationwide campaign aimed at vaccinating 45 million children under the age of five, following a rise in polio cases. This current campaign marks the third to take place this year. To date, Pakistan has recorded a total of 41 polio cases across 71 districts, with the majority reported in the southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh provinces, as well as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and eastern Punjab province.
Concurrently, Afghan health officials announced Monday that vaccination efforts had commenced in 16 out of 34 provinces, with plans to target 6.2 million children under five years old. This campaign is anticipated to last three days, according to spokesperson Sharafat Zaman. Data from the World Health Organization indicates that there have been 23 confirmed polio cases in Afghanistan for the current year.