Polio team attacked in Bajaur: Worker and security officer killed

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A health worker and a police officer were killed on Tuesday in an armed attack on a polio vaccination team in the Mamund tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Bajaur district.

According to police reports, unidentified assailants opened fire on the polio team while they were conducting a door-to-door vaccination drive.

The attack claimed the lives of polio worker Abu Huraira, 25, and police officer Luqman, 33, who was providing security to the team.

Rescue personnel quickly arrived at the scene and transferred the bodies to District Hospital Khar.

Security forces launched a search operation in the area following the incident to apprehend the attackers.

Polio vaccination campaigns in the region have faced resistance and violence in the past, with health workers and security personnel often becoming targets of such attacks.

Earlier this year in January, at least five police officers were killed, and nearly two dozen others wounded when an explosive device targeted a polio vaccination drive in another attack in Bajaur.

The injured were rushed to local hospitals, while critically wounded officers were transferred to Peshawar, 133km (82 miles) south of Bajaur.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility, but attacks on polio vaccination teams and security personnel are common in the region.

The Pakistan Taliban (TTP)  terrorist group had previously targeted such efforts, opposing the vaccination drives due to misinformation and past CIA operations.

Polio vaccination efforts in Pakistan have faced significant resistance.

Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV-1) continues to be endemic.

Pakistan launched its first nationwide polio immunisation campaign of the year in January, aiming to vaccinate over 44 million children under five. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the campaign in Islamabad, reaffirming the government’s commitment to eradicating polio.

This incident comes amid a rise in violent attacks in Pakistan, with more than 600 such incidents recorded in 2023, a 70% increase from the previous year, according to the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies.