DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN: At least one policeman was killed and another wounded in two separate attacks on polio vaccination teams in Pakistan on Wednesday, police said.
The attacks follow the killing of another police officer on Monday on the first day of the latest polio inoculation drive in Pakistan, one of the few countries in the world where the disease persists.
Wednesday’s attack took place in Dera Murad Jamali in Balochistan province.
“A vaccination team was taking a lunch break when unknown assailants opened fire on police escorting them, leaving a constable dead,” said Asad Nasar, a senior police officer in the province.
The vaccination team remained unhurt, he said.
The second attack took place in Hangu, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a sniper opened fire on the vaccination team, injuring one police officer, police said.
Polio vaccination teams are accompanied by a police escort in Pakistan, where attacks are common with militant groups falsely portraying the campaigns as a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Pakistan launched the second phase of its countrywide 2026 anti-polio campaign on April 13 to seek to eradicate the disease from the country.
“Despite the attacks, we will continue the vaccination campaign,” Deputy Commissioner Zulfiqar Ali said.
Separatist group the Balochistan Liberation Army and the the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the incidents in separate statements.
