Policeman killed in attack on polio vaccination teams in Pakistan

At least one policeman was killed in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday as unidentified gunmen attacked a health office where polio vaccination teams were gathered, an official working at the government body tackling the spread of polio in the province said.

The attack occurred in Upper Orakzai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where around 13 polio team members were present, Mohammad Zeeshan Khan, deputy coordinator of the government body managing polio campaigns, told the media.

"We are in touch with local authorities and confirm the polio teams are safe," Khan said, adding two militants were also killed.

"The polio campaign has been suspended in the area," he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamist militant groups in the region have previously claimed similar attacks on polio teams, falsely portraying the inoculation campaigns as a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.

Although mostly eradicated elsewhere, wiping out polio is still an aim in Pakistan, which has 41 active cases, according to the prime minister's office. Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world still.

The attack comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south.

On Monday, Pakistan launched its third nationwide polio campaign this year as the number of cases drastically rose from only six recorded cases in 2023, after 20 in 2022 and just one in 2021.

The week-long campaign aims to administer the anti-polio vaccine drops to more than 45 million children.

Reuters