PESHAWAR: Two cops were killed on Tuesday after armed men attacked a polio vaccination team in northwestern Pakistan, police said, adding that three “terrorists” were also shot dead during the exchange of fire.
The incident took place in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Orakzai Agency’s Dabori area on Tuesday morning, police said in a statement shared with media. It added that police engaged the armed men after they targeted a polio vaccination team, killing one cop and injuring another. The second police officer later succumbed to his wounds.
“In retaliatory fire, three terrorists were killed and another wounded was arrested by the police party,” Orakzai Agency police spokesperson Muhammad Musa told Arab News.
Police said a search operation is underway to locate the gunmen who had attacked the polio vaccination team.
The incident takes place a day after Pakistan launched a week-long polio vaccination campaign to inoculate over 45 million children after an alarming surge in cases this year. Pakistan this year reported 41 polio cases compared to only six last year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic.
Religiously motivated militants, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have frequently launched attacks on polio vaccination teams in Pakistan. These groups accuse polio vaccination teams of using inoculation campaigns to sterilize Pakistani children based on a Western conspiracy.
The masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
In September, two people were killed when gunmen attacked a polio vaccination team in northwestern Bajaur tribal district. One of those handing out doses was killed while a policeman exporting him was also gunned down.
