Cop guarding polio team martyred in Nowshera

A police constable deployed for the security of a polio vaccination team was martyred when unidentified assailants opened fire on him in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Nowshera district on Wednesday. The attackers managed to flee after the incident.

The attack comes a day after a Levies constable was shot dead while guarding a polio team in the Swat district.

Upon receiving information, RPO Mardan and DPO Nowshera reached the site and reviewed the situation.

"Two armed militants targeted a police officer assigned to protect a polio team," local police official Bilal Khan told AFP. "He was killed on the spot," Khan added.

The attack occurred in Kahee village of Nizampur area, Nowshera district.

A heavy police contingent cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the perpetrators.

The constable was identified as Maqsood Ali.

Pakistan recorded a surge in polio cases last year, with 74 infections reported, compared to just six in 2023.

So far this year, 29 polio cases have been recorded, with K-P accounting for 18 cases, the highest in the country.