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Five policemen deployed for polio duty martyred in Bajaur blast


More than 10 other people are wounded in bomb explosion targeting a police vehicle in KP’s Bajaur district

People gather around the police vehicle targeted in an explosion in Bajaur district on January 8, 2024. —Geo News

BAJAUR: At least five police officials were martyred and over 10 others were wounded Monday in a bomb explosion targeting a police vehicle in Mamund tehsil of Bajaur district, Geo News reported.

Police said the policemen were going to provide security to polio vaccination teams. More deaths were feared in the incident, they said.

The deceased and injured have been shifted to Khar hospital, where an emergency was declared, they added.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman condemned the attack on the police officials deployed for the security of the anti-polio team in Bajaur.

Taking to X, she said the PPP stands in solidarity with the families of the five personnel martyred in the explosion.

“Terrorists have attacked not only the police but also the health of our children. An attack on the security of the anti-polio team should not be tolerated under any circumstances, it is directly related to the health of our children,” she said.

Sherry said the miscreants did not want the complete eradication of polio from the country. The terrorists involved in the incident should be arrested immediately and punished severely, she demanded.

On December 1 of last year, a policeman was killed when militants attacked a polio vaccination team, AFP had reported. The incident occurred in Malik Din Khel, part of the former tribal border region.

“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on policemen guarding a two-member polio vaccination team,” district police chief Saleem Khan Kulachi had told AFP.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants.

All preparations have been made for the seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign starting Monday (today).

Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Salim Rajput has directed polio workers to achieve a 100 per cent target in vaccinating children under five years of age with polio drops for at least the next five years. He stressed that unless every child receives these drops, the threat of the polio virus spread will persist.

Efforts have also been made to persuade parents who refuse vaccination for their children. Comprehensive plans are being made, and lists of children and their parents, along with reports on barriers to vaccination, have been prepared.

Those refusing vaccination have been identified, and field workers are actively involved to ensure no child is deprived of polio drops, said the commissioner. Meetings have been held with community mobilisers from over 450 areas in District East and District Central. They were reminded that achieving a 100 per cent target for vaccinating children against polio over the next five years across the country is crucial. The officials emphasised the necessity of parental cooperation to ensure no child misses out on polio drops.




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