JAMRUD: A police officer travelling to guard polio vaccinators was martyred in Khyber District on Monday, on the first day of a nationwide immunisation effort after a year of rising cases.
Police said that the remaining anti-polio team personnel were safe in the shooting incident.
The police officer was guarding the polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud in Khyber district when he was shot dead, local police official Zarmat Khan informed the media.
“Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him,” he said, adding “The constable died instantly at the scene.”
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.
Pakistan reported at least 73 polio infections in 2024, a significant increase compared to just six cases in 2023.
The vaccination campaign which started on Monday is the first of the year and is due to last a week.
“Despite the incident, the polio vaccination drive in the area remains ongoing,” Zarmat Khan said.
Abdul Hameed Afridi, another senior police official in the area, also confirmed details of the attack and said officers have “launched an investigation”.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack on the polio team in Jamrud in which a police constable was martyred.
He paid tribute to Constable Abdul Khaliq, saying he salutes the constable for sacrificing his live to protect the future of our children.
Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but scores of vaccination workers and their escorts have been killed over the years.
In the past, clerics falsely claimed that the vaccine contained pork or alcohol, declaring it forbidden for Muslims. In more recent years the attacks have focused on vulnerable police escorts accompanying the vaccinators as they go door-to-door.
Last year, dozens of Pakistani policemen who accompany medical teams on campaigns went on strike after a string of militant attacks targeting them.
