Islamabad — Suspected terrorists fired at a vehicle carrying Police officers appointed for the protection of polio workers On Tuesday in northwestern Pakistan, one of them was killed and four others were injured before fleeing the scene, police said. When the police retaliated, two attackers were killed.
The shooting took place in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, shortly after Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, according to local police officer Mahmood Alam.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and local militant groups, who frequently carry out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan According to the World Health Organization, these are the only countries where polio has not been eradicated.
First Lady Asifa Bhutto Zardari urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated during the week-long campaign, which aims to reach more than 45 million children under the age of 5 across all provinces and territories. He said the operation would be carried out in coordination with Afghanistan, reflecting a shared commitment to disrupting cross-border transmission and closing remaining gaps.
Asifa is the daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a gun and bomb attack by terrorists in 2007, and who led initiatives aimed at eradicating polio during their tenures. In a statement, he said, “Pakistan stands at a critical moment in the fight against polio.” He said that while the country is closer than ever to eradication, “the final phase remains the most challenging.”
Highlighting recent gains he said 31 cases of polio reported across the country in 2025While only one case has been reported so far this year, warnings have been issued against complacency.
While Pakistan mainly uses door-to-door vaccination teams to deliver children to their homes, Afghanistan usually relies on fixed vaccination sites and health facilities, where parents are asked to bring their children for vaccination.
In Kabul, Public Health Ministry spokesman Sharafat Zaman said the year’s first national polio vaccination campaign has started in Afghanistan in coordination with international partners, aiming to vaccinate about 12.6 million children under the age of 5 across the country. He said operations have been delayed in some areas due to cold weather.
Zaman urged parents, religious scholars and community leaders to ensure maximum participation in the campaign, stressing that polio can only be prevented through vaccination.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, although health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim that the vaccination campaign is a Western plot to sterilize children.
officials have Thousands of police officers were deployed to protect the workers Following intelligence warnings of possible attacks. More than 200 polio workers and police assigned to protect them have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to officials.
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Afghan reported from Kabul. Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan.
