Armed terrorists martyred two policemen defending a polio vaccination crew in Higher Orakzai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, whereas three attackers had been additionally killed in retaliatory hearth by safety forces.
Higher Orakzai Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Muhammad Rahim stated the incident occurred within the Dabori Badan space, the place armed males opened hearth at police personnel escorting the vaccinators.
One of many policemen, Sayyed Hameed, misplaced his life on the spot, whereas the opposite was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Orakzai. Nonetheless, the injured cop Muzammil additionally succumbed to his wounds throughout therapy.
In a swift response to the assault, the Frontier Corps cordoned off the realm and launched a search operation.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Muhammad Raheem later confirmed that three terrorists had been killed in retaliatory firing by the FC personnel, whereas one of many militants was caught injured.
President Asif Ali Zardari in an announcement condemned the armed assault on the polio vaccination crew, expressing sorrow over the martyrdom of police officers.
“The cops bravely fought the attackers and killed three terrorists, for which they deserve salutes,” he stated within the assertion.
Praying for the early restoration of the wounded cops, the president vowed to proceed all-out efforts to eradicate poliovirus throughout the nation.
Reacting to the incident, Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the assault on police and paid tribute to the martyred personnel.
“Assault on the anti-polio crew is an assault on the secure way forward for Pakistan,” he stated.
It could be famous that the federal government has launched separate polio vaccination drives throughout the nation following the current spike in circumstances of paralysing illness.
Pakistan reported the forty first case of the 12 months when a 42-month-old lady was crippled by the wild poliovirus kind 1 (WPV1) in Balochistan, the epicentre of the outbreak.
The southwestern province is rising as an space of intense polio transmission this 12 months as 21 of the 41 circumstances within the nation. The breakdown of the remaining circumstances is Sindh (12), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (six), and one every in Punjab and Islamabad.
The present marketing campaign, led by Pakistan’s Polio Programme goals to vaccinate over 45 million kids beneath the age of 5, kicked off yesterday (Monday).
Officers stress the significance of full participation as incomplete vaccination protection leaves communities weak to the continued unfold and resurgence of polio.
Since its launch in 1994, the polio eradication programme has largely contained the virus, and Pakistan was near fully wiping out the illness till this 12 months as solely six circumstances had been reported in 2023.
It is without doubt one of the two remaining polio-endemic international locations on the planet, together with Afghanistan, and authorities urge mother and father to actively take part within the ongoing nationwide polio vaccination marketing campaign.
Polio is a extremely infectious illness attributable to a virus primarily affecting kids beneath the age of 5 years, who’re malnourished or have weak immunity due to being under-vaccinated or not vaccinated for polio and different childhood ailments.
The sickness invades the nervous system and causes paralysis and even dying. Whereas there is no such thing as a remedy for polio, vaccination is the simplest technique to defend kids from this crippling illness.
Pakistan’s rigorous efforts in direction of polio eradication face important challenges, notably in areas the place insecurity, misinformation, and parental refusals hinder vaccination campaigns.