Paralysing fear: Swabi militants kill constable protecting polio vaccinators

Second attack in the district since Jan 1 slaying of seven NGO workers.

SWABI:

A police constable, waiting outside a house as health workers inoculated children against polio, was shot dead by militants on the second day of a campaign on the outskirts of Swabi. This is the second such attack in the district.

Two men drove up and parked their motorcycle at a distance from the house before brazenly shooting PC Munsif Khan in the head and chest at around 11:15am on Tuesday, said Swabi DSP Salim Dad Khan while talking to The Express Tribune. 

P C Khan, who had joined the elite force three years ago, was escorting the male and female vaccinators in Gullo Dheri village in Gilla Wand. The campaign had just been restarted after a string of murders of health workers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, leading the UN agencies to pull teams from the field. On January 1, six women and a man from a non-governmental organisation were gunned down near Sheikh Dheri of Lahore tehsil of the district.

Also on Tuesday, a second incident was reported in Mardan, when a man used an axe to attack a lady health worker’s brother who was accompanying her for protection in Machi union council. According to Rustam police officer Ihsan Ali, they have registered a case against Murad Ali who first got into a fistfight and then injured Mumtaz who was with his sister Sakeena, a vaccinator. Mumtaz was treated at Basic Health Unit Machi.

Pakistan remains in the spotlight for the crippling virus as recently sewage samples collected from Egypt resembled a strain discovered in Sukkur. In 2001, 198 cases were reported, the highest figure for more than a decade and the most of any country in the world at that time, according to the World Health Organization.

The authorities have been battling to reach out to families and new measures advised include vaccination counters at the airports. Tuesday’s killing brought the campaign to a halt, however, said Swabi DCO Shah Muhammad Khan after an emergency meeting.

According to PC Khan’s father Liaqat who runs a small shop in the village, his son was married a mere 18 months ago and had a five-month-old daughter. Munsif’s first posting was at Kalu Khan police station for two years before he was transferred to the Swabi police station. Munsif has a brother and four sisters.

Militants have been active in the area and aside from such attacks, have targeted educational institutes as well as music shops. No arrests have been made yet.

PC Khan’s body was sent to the district headquarters hospital for an autopsy and then to his hometown of Shera Ghund for burial. The Swabi police chief, other officials and social activists attended the funeral prayers.


Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2013.