Police officer killed in Buner as polio team remains unhurt

PESHAWAR: A police officer, responsible for providing security to polio workers, was martyred in Buner District of Malakand Division in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Wednesday.

Unidentified men opened fire at Sepoy Zafar Ali Jan in Thana Dagar area when he was on duty.

Other members of the polio team remained unhurt as they were at some distance from the police official when the incident took place.

“An official of the special police force has been targeted with the help of a 12-bore weapon. Such a weapon is not usually used in terrorism-related incidents or targeted killings,” said DPO Buner Muhammad Arshad Khan.

Police officer killed in Bannu while performing security duty for polio workers

The DPO Buner added that it was yet to ascertain if the incident occurred due to any personal enmity.

“A search operation is underway in the area,” he said.

On April 23, another police officer on security duty for polio workers was also martyred in Bannu.

Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Imran was targeted near a Rural Health Centre in Domel by unidentified gunmen.

Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Mehmood Khan also took notice of the incident and summoned a report from the province’s Inspector General (IG).

Nine suspects arrested for targeting anti-polio campaign in K-P

Pakistan is one of just three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria that have endemic polio, a once-common childhood virus that can cause paralysis or death.

Immunisation efforts have in the past been hampered by militants. They have previously alleged the immunisation campaigns are a cover for Western spies.

Local officials said they had recruited Muslim clerics to promote the immunisations for children after past programmes were met with resistance and even violence by extremists.