PESHAWAR: A roadside bomb struck a vehicle carrying security forces in a former stronghold of local militants in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, killing four, police said.
The attack happened in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The area served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban until a few years ago, when the army said it cleared the region of insurgents. But the violence has continued there.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack.
Senior police officer Abdul Samad Khan said two police officers and two soldiers were killed in the attack. He said troops launched a search operation in the region to find those who orchestrated the attack.
Khan refused to speculate on who could be behind the attack.
But suspicion fell on Pakistan’s own Taliban who have been emboldened by the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where thousands of Pakistani militants are still believed to be hiding.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) internationally recognized border known as the Durand Line, which was drawn in the 19th century when the British dominated South Asia. Kabul has never recognized the boundary.
Before the the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan often accused each other of turning a blind eye to militants operating along the porous frontier.
Bomb hits security vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing four
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Bomb hits security vehicle in northwest Pakistan, killing four
- The attack happened in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan
- There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack, though suspicion fell on the Pakistani Taliban based in Afghanistan
Pakistan launches final nationwide polio drive for 2025 amid rise in global cases
- Global polio tracking data shows Pakistan accounted for 30 of the world’s 39 cases in 2025, with remainder in Afghanistan
- Health authorities urge parents to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure all children under five receive polio drops
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for 2025 from tomorrow, aiming to immunize more than 45 million children under the age of five, health authorities said on Sunday, as the country remains at the center of global efforts to eradicate the disease.
Global polio tracking data shows that 30 of the 39 confirmed wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases worldwide 2025 were reported in Pakistan, with the remainder in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023 and just one case in 2021, highlighting the volatility of eradication efforts in a country where misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and security issues have repeatedly disrupted progress.
“The final national polio campaign of 2025 will formally begin across the country from tomorrow,” Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.
“During the campaign, polio drops will be administered to more than 45 million children nationwide,” it said, adding that the seven-day drive would run from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21.
The NEOC said more than 400,000 male and female polio workers would take part in the campaign, with vaccination targets including over 23 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.6 million in Balochistan and smaller numbers in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“Protecting children from polio is a shared national responsibility,” the NEOC said. “Parents must fully cooperate with polio workers to secure the future of the nation.”
It urged families to ensure that all children under five years of age receive the required two drops of the vaccine during the campaign.
Pakistan has drastically reduced polio prevalence since the 1990s, when annual cases exceeded 20,000.
By 2018, the number had fallen to eight. But health authorities warn that without consistent access to children — particularly in high-risk and underserved regions — eradication will remain out of reach.
Violence has also hampered the program. Polio teams and their security escorts have frequently come under attack from militants in parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan.
Officials say continued security threats, along with natural disasters such as recent flooding, remain major obstacles to reaching every child.
