In a tragic incident in Bajur, Pakistan, gunmen on motorcycles targeted police escorting a team of polio workers during a vaccination campaign. The attack resulted in the death of a police officer and a polio worker. The district, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has been a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of now, according to local police chief Abdul Aziz. The Interior Minister of Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi, has strongly condemned the violence.
This attack comes amidst a nationwide polio campaign in Pakistan, which has seen a surge in militant attacks. Polio, a potentially fatal and paralyzing disease, primarily affects children under the age of 5 and is commonly transmitted through contaminated water sources.
Earlier this week, another incident occurred in the South Waziristan district, where a roadside bomb targeted a vehicle carrying officers protecting health workers involved in polio immunization. The blast resulted in injuries to six officers and three civilians. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for this attack.
Unfortunately, anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan frequently face violence from militants who falsely believe that the vaccination efforts are part of a Western conspiracy to harm children. This has posed significant challenges to the country's efforts to eradicate polio.
Since the beginning of this year, Pakistan has reported 17 new cases of polio, posing a threat to the decades-long battle against the disease. Pakistan, along with Afghanistan, remains the only countries where polio transmission has not been halted.
