Polio official shot dead in Bajaur district

Body has been handed over to the deceased's family after medico-legal formalities, according to police

A polio monitoring official was killed late Saturday night when unidentified men opened fire on him in Mamond area of Bajaur district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

According to police, the body has been handed over to the deceased's family after medico-legal formalities.

In April, a police personnel, responsible for providing security to polio workers, was martyred in Buner District of Malakand Division.



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 resistance and even violence by extremists.