4 polio immunisation workers abducted in K-P’s Tank

Two others abducted from Azam Warsak, but subsequently let go

DERA ISMAIL KHAN:

Four polio immunisation workers were abducted by unidentified armed men after being fired upon in Khyber-Paktunkhwa’s Tank district, while two other members of a polio vaccination team, who had been kidnapped in Azam Warsak, were subsequently released.

According to details, the abduction incident in Tank occurred in a village located in the Sheikh Attar union council, where unidentified armed men abducted the four polio vaccination workers.

Police said the gunmen took all the workers to an undisclosed location.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.

Read: Pakistan's polio tally reaches eight with new case in K-P

Further details about the identity of the perpetrators and the whereabouts of the kidnapped workers were not immediately available.

In a separate incident, two members of a polio vaccination team were abducted by armed men in the Azam Warsak area of Lower South Waziristan. However, both vaccinators were later released.

Sources said the suspects were affiliated with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The incidents have raised concerns over the security of polio vaccination teams working in the remote region, where they continue to face threats while carrying out the immunisation campaigns.

A day earlier, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication confirmed Pakistan's seventh polio case of the year, reported from K-P. The infected child was a 13-month-old girl belonging to Jan Baz Union Council in Bara tehsil, the NEOC said.

It was the second polio case reported from Khyber district this year.

Of the seven cases reported across the country so far this year, six have emerged from K-P and one from Sindh, according to the NEOC.