Policeman guarding polio vaccinators shot dead in Quetta

Police official was on a prayer break; polio team remains safe

QUETTA: A police constable deputed for the security of polio vaccinators was shot dead by unknown assailants in Pashtunabad, on the outskirts of Quetta on Wednesday.

The police official was not on duty at the time and was targeted during a prayer break.

“Police constable Zainullah was shot in the head outside a mosque near the Basic Health Unitin Pashtunabad, which caused his instant death,” police official Saleem Shawani told The Express Tribune.

“He took a break to offer prayers and was returning to the Basic Health Unit when two armed men on a motorbike opened fire on him,” the Balochistan police spokesperson said.

Shawani added that the polio workers remain safe.

“The polio campaign in Quetta has not been suspended after the attack,” Dr Ishaq Panezi, an official of EPI program Balochistan,  told The Express Tribune.

“A high-level meeting was called in the chairmanship of Secretary Health to review the situation after the deadly attack,” he added.

The anti-polio drive is underway in 15 union councils of Quetta amid strict security. However, the latest attack is a serious blow to the campaign.

Despite security, polio vaccinators fear for their lives. In November last year, four polio vaccinators, including three women, were brutally murdered and three others were wounded when armed men opened fire on their vehicle in Quetta.