Officer Fatally Shot During Anti-Polio Campaign Assault in Pakistan
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Islamabad, Dec 16 (NationPress) An officer was fatally shot in a barrage of gunfire from unidentified assailants in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as reported by police officials on Monday.
A member of the polio vaccination team sustained critical injuries during the assault by armed individuals in the Shakarkhel region of Karak district.
After the attack, the assailants fled the scene, prompting police to initiate a search operation to apprehend those responsible.
In response to the incident, a substantial police presence was deployed to the area. Security forces established a perimeter and commenced an investigation into the assault, according to Xinhua news agency.
Previously, the Pakistani government initiated a renewed nationwide anti-polio campaign following a spike in cases, which have reached 63 so far in 2024.
As reported by IANS at the beginning of this month, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed the identification of the Wild Poliovirus Type 1 (WPV1) in three children across various regions of the country.
Cases were identified in Dera Ismail Khan, Karachi, and the southern district of Kashmore.
The NIH has urged the public to ensure that their children under the age of five receive the oral polio vaccine during every anti-polio campaign.
The latest vaccination effort in mid-December aimed to reach over 44 million children.
Pakistan is currently confronting a significant resurgence of WPV1, particularly in the tumultuous Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
These two regions have witnessed widespread resistance to polio vaccination efforts and even attacks on health workers in the past.
With ongoing targeted assaults, it has become nearly impossible for polio vaccination campaigns to proceed without disruption, thereby heightening the risk of children contracting the disease.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two nations globally where polio continues to be endemic.
Historically, Pakistan has administered over 300 million doses of the oral vaccine each year. However, the disease persists in the country.
Many experts have raised concerns about the Pakistani government's ongoing inability to control the spread of the polio virus.
