Two police officers stood guard for a vital national health drive, only to be ambushed by unidentified gunmen in the Dag Tamanzai area of Mohmand district. According to Geo News, the attack left two cops martyred and another injured while they were heading to perform security duties for the anti-polio campaign.
According to police, a search operation has been launched in the area to apprehend the culprits responsible for the assault.
Background
According to Geo News, hostile elements frequently target polio vaccination teams in the terrorism-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces to disrupt immunization efforts. A similar incident occurred in September, when two policemen guarding a polio team were martyred in an armed attack in Balochistan's Nushki district.
Geo News reported that the latest violence coincides with an ongoing subnational polio vaccination campaign running from November 2 to November 8. The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) stated that the drive aims to reach approximately 24 million children across 97 districts.
Polio remains a highly contagious disease without a cure, capable of causing lifelong paralysis or death, though it is preventable through safe and effective vaccines used in 195 countries, including all Muslim-majority nations. Pakistan has reported eight cases of wild poliovirus type 1 this year, comprising six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two in Sindh, according to Geo News.
What's next
According to police, a search operation is currently underway in the area to track down and arrest the culprits involved in the attack.