Policeman killed amid attacks on polio vaccination teams in Pakistan
Hundreds of policemen went on strike on Thursday after a string of deadly attacks on policemen who provide security for polio vaccination teams.
Hundreds of police and polio workers have been killed over the past decade. / Photo: Reuters
A pair of gunmen on a motorcycle has opened fire on Thursday and killed a policeman guarding a group of polio workers going door-to-door in a vaccination campaign in northwestern Pakistan, police said, the second attack on the country's anti-polio campaign in as many days.
This happened as more than 100 Pakistan police who provide security for polio vaccination teams in restive border areas went on strike after a string of deadly gunmen attacks this week.
"Any constable who learns of the protest is leaving their polio duty to join the demonstration," said a police officer at the sit-in who asked not to be named.
He told AFP that negotiations have failed between the protesting police and senior officials in Bannu district, in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Since the launch of the latest vaccination drive on Monday, at least two police officers and one polio worker have been shot dead in separate attacks in rural districts near the border with Afghanistan, including one officer escorting a team on Thursday.
Nine people were also wounded on Monday in a bomb attack on a polio vaccination team claimed by the Daesh terror group.
Most attacks are claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, a separate group from the Afghan Taliban.
Polio and militancy surge
Pakistan has seen a surge in polio cases this year, recording 17 cases so far in 2024, compared to six in 2023.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic despite an effective vaccine.
Health officials had aimed to vaccinate 30 million children in a week-long campaign.
"A partial polio campaign is underway here, but many police officials have abandoned their duties to join the sit-in," another protesting police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
According to the United Nations children's agency (UNICEF), the number of polio cases in Pakistan has fallen dramatically from around 20,000 annually in the early 1990s.
Pockets of Pakistan's mountainous border regions however remain resistant to inoculation as a result of misinformation, conspiracy theories.
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