In a tragic incident in southwestern Pakistan, gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two security personnel responsible for the protection of polio workers on Wednesday, as per local police authorities. The attack took place in Mastung, a district in the province of Balochistan, stated police official Mohammad Arif. The perpetrators fled the scene, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Despite the violence, the health workers, who were engaged in vaccinating children on a neighboring street, were unharmed, according to the official report. The incident drew condemnation from Shahid Rind, a government spokesperson in Balochistan, marking it especially tragic as it follows on the heels of a newly launched national vaccination campaign. This initiative aims to provide polio vaccinations to 45 million children across Pakistan.
Alarmingly, Pakistan is among the last two countries, alongside Afghanistan, struggling with the endemic transmission of the natural strain of the polio virus, a fact highlighted by the World Health Organization. Compounding the issue, several African nations are currently dealing with outbreaks stemming from mutated strains originating from the oral polio vaccine.
Health and police personnel are frequently the targets of militant attacks, driven by false narratives that suggest these immunization campaigns are actually schemes by Western entities to sterilize Muslim children. Last year, Pakistan witnessed a significant rise in polio cases, totaling 74 compared to a mere single case the previous year. So far this year, there have been six cases reported.
Since the 1990s, over 200 individuals involved in polio eradication efforts, both health workers and their security escorts, have lost their lives to attacks. This ongoing violence highlights the persistent and severe challenges faced in the fight to eradicate polio in the region.