PESHAWAR/JACOBABAD: A polio worker along with a policeman was killed in an attack in Bajaur while a lady polio worker was allegedly abducted and raped in Jacobabad, the administration and police confirmed on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the seven-day (Sept 7 to 15) anti-polio campaign to vaccinate millions of children nationwide.
According to police officials, unidentified gunmen killed a polio worker along with a policeman on Wednesday in Bajaur during the ongoing anti-polio campaign.
“After completing their duties, a polio team was returning to the local (health unit) when two unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on them,” Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official, told AFP. He said a polio worker and a police officer were killed and a third person was wounded.
The attack happened in Bajaur district, close to the border with Afghanistan, just two days after the Islamic State group claimed an improvised bomb attack on a polio vaccination team in the same district that wounded nine people.
Wednesday’s attack happened on the third day of a campaign to vaccinate 30 million children in the week-long campaign, which will now be paused in part of Bajaur district.
In another such incident, a lady polio worker was allegedly abducted and raped in Jacobabad.
Jacobabad Deputy Commissioner (DC) Zahoor Murri said that the incident took place in Detha village, within the limits of Moladad police station.
“The police arrived at the scene and shifted the victim to James Hospital under tight security,” he said.
“The polio worker was undergoing a medical examination at the hospital and the medicolegal examination would confirm if any abuse took place,” said DC Murri.
He added the polio worker alleged that the two armed suspects called her on the pretext of administering polio drops to children.
“Both suspects have been identified and raids underway to arrest them,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that the arrests will be made soon.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the number of polio cases in Pakistan has fallen dramatically from around 20,000 annually in the early 1990s to just eight cases in 2018.
However, there has been a surge in cases again with 17 reported since January compared to only six last year, according to Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Programme.
…………….Additional reporting by AFP/
