By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: A police constable and a civilian were killed on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a polio vaccination team in a remote village in the restive northwestern Bajaur district, officials said, dealing a blow to the country’s latest drive to eradicate the crippling disease.
The attack, which occurred around 12:20 pm in Village Tangi Loei Khel, unfolded as the team administered oral polio drops under police protection. Constable Sajjad Ahmed was shot dead on the spot, and a bystander, Fazal Rahim, was fatally wounded and later died at Khar Hospital, according to Shadab Younas, a media officer at the Peshawar Emergency Operations Center.
Public Relations Officer Israr Khan of the police confirmed that the civilian had been “shot dead by the armed men when he attempted to chase after the assailants.” Local residents corroborated the account, Khan said, adding that the attackers fled the scene and that a search operation was underway. No polio workers were harmed.
The incident prompted authorities to suspend vaccination activities in the area, even as the nationwide campaign, the final one of 2025, running from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21, pressed on elsewhere. More than 13.3 million children received doses on the first day, with the drive aiming to reach over 45 million under age 5, the National Emergency Operations Center reported.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the assault, expressing grief over the constable’s death and directing authorities to “bring the perpetrators to justice,” according to a statement from his office. He stressed that the campaign would continue until the virus was eradicated and prayed for the “speedy recovery of the injured.”
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, also denounced the attack, extending condolences to the families via a statement posted on X by his digital media spokesperson. “Polio workers and the security personnel assigned to protect them are performing their national responsibility,” he said, calling the incident “an assault on humanity and national responsibility.” He vowed that the “campaign will not be allowed to be impacted in any way.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting, which echoes a pattern of militant violence against polio efforts in the region. Bajaur, near the Afghan border, has seen such teams targeted despite escorts from police and paramilitary forces.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the world’s only countries where polio is endemic. Global tracking data show 30 of the 39 confirmed wild poliovirus type 1 cases worldwide this year were in Pakistan, with 19 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone. The country reported 74 cases in 2024, up sharply from six in 2023 and one in 2021. Polio, a highly infectious virus that can cause lifelong paralysis, has no cure; prevention relies on repeated oral vaccine doses for children under 5, alongside routine immunizations.
But eradication has been hampered by security threats, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In 2024, 20 people were killed and 53 injured during anti-polio campaigns in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Official data through November 9 cited 96 killings by alleged terrorists in the province since 2012, including 61 policemen, 27 health workers and five civilians. Another 170 were injured, among them 124 policemen, 28 health workers and 21 civilians. During that span, 32 health workers, three civilians and one policeman were kidnapped.
Just last October, a Levies constable guarding a polio team was slain in Swat. Of those subjected to violence, deaths, injuries or abductions, 283 were men and 18 women. Health officials have urged parents to cooperate with vaccinators. The current drive is being conducted simultaneously with Afghanistan’s, the National Emergency Operations Center said.
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