BAJAUR (MNN); At least two people, including a police constable, were killed on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen attacked a polio vaccination team in the Salarzai tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, police said.
The attack occurred in the Thangi area on the second day of the country’s final nationwide polio campaign for 2025, which began a day earlier and will continue until December 21.
Police Public Relations Officer Israr Khan confirmed that the victims included Constable Sajad Ahmed, who was assigned to protect the polio team, and a civilian passerby. The constable succumbed to critical injuries, while the civilian was shot dead when he attempted to chase the attackers.
According to the police, local residents also corroborated the incident, while the assailants managed to flee the scene. A search operation has been launched to track down those responsible.
Khan said that no members of the polio vaccination team were injured in the attack.
Polio workers and their security escorts have frequently been targeted by militants, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. During anti-polio campaigns in 2024 alone, at least 20 people were killed and 53 injured in KP.
No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the latest attack.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi strongly condemned the incident and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased. In a statement shared by his digital media team, he said polio workers and the security personnel guarding them were fulfilling a vital national duty.
Terming the attack an assault on humanity and national responsibility, the chief minister vowed that the polio campaign would continue uninterrupted.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the martyrdom of the police constable. According to state broadcaster PTV, the premier pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice and reaffirmed that the eradication drive would continue until polio is eliminated from the country. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured.
In October, a Levies constable deployed for the protection of a polio team was killed in a similar shooting incident in Swat.
Official data cited in a report released on November 9 shows that since 2012, at least 96 people have been killed in attacks linked to polio campaigns in KP, including 61 policemen, 27 health workers and five civilians. During the same period, 170 people were injured and 36 individuals were kidnapped.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, where polio is still endemic. So far this year, 30 polio cases have been reported nationwide, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounting for the highest number at 19.
Security threats, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation continue to pose serious challenges to polio eradication efforts. Polio is a highly contagious and incurable disease that can cause permanent paralysis, and repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine remain the only effective protection for children under five.
