Policemen collect evidence after a remote controlled bomb exploded near the van of a polio vaccination team in Budhni on the outskirts of Peshawar on February 16, 2014. PHOTO: AFP
"The police team was being deployed in Budhni area before the start of the campaign when a remote controlled bomb exploded near their van, killing one police official and wounding another one," local senior administration official Zaheerul Islam told AFP.
A senior local police official, Faisal Mukhtar, confirmed the incident and casualties.
Militant groups see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage, and there are also long-running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.
More than 40 people including health workers and police officials providing security to the teams administering polio drops to children have been killed in Pakistan in different incidents of violence since December 2012.
The latest campaign, which started early this month, will continue until April. It sees vaccinators go door-to-door every Sunday across Peshawar to administer drops to children for various diseases including polio, tuberculosis, tetanus, whooping cough, measles and hepatitis.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
According to the World Health Organisation, Pakistan recorded 91 cases of polio last year, up from 58 in 2012.
The World Health Organisation has warned that Peshawar was the world's "largest reservoir" of polio.
The country’s failure to defeat polio stands in stark contrast to its neighbour and great rival India, which recently celebrated the eradication of polio three years after its last case.
COMMENTS (12)
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If terrorist see the polio eradication as espionage means why don't Pakistan Government and NGOs ask the terrorist to provide polio drops to the children in their areas
@A: Nawaz Sharif, Irfan Siddiqi and Ch. Nisar are guilty of treason with the state of Pakistan. Although Imran Khan is a confused person, it is not his responsibility to provide leadership to the nation. It is Nawaz Sharif's job, and his inaction on the murders of Pakistanis is shameful.
@Major Iqbal: Stop making comments which have no sense. The fact is that in Punjab, Mullahs who are against Vaccination have very little influence. Fortunately Punjabis are not brain washed to the point where they start killing their own people.
ET did not reported that Sehat ka insaf campaign continued despite this attack & i appreciate shaukat yousfzai kpk health minister for leading the campaign.
The message is clear. They basically don't want the polio issue to ever be resolved. Putting terrorism apart, why are they taking the right of every child to live a disease free life?
If this happened in the Punjab, military force would have been used to fix the situation.
@A: kejriwal should learn from imran khan... lol :)
@Voice Of D.I.Khan: But that treacherous nawaz govt is going ahead with peace talks. Why is nawaz supporting the Taliban?
Taliban have free license to kill now as KPK govt is fully supporting them and doing nothing.....