Quetta, Sep 22 (IANS) Two police personnel guarding polio workers were killed by armed assailants in Noshki district of Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Tuesday, local media reported.
Noshki City Station House Officer (SHO) Munawar Zaman said that armed assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on police personnel guarding a team of female polio workers who were inoculating children during the week-long vaccination drive, which began on Monday, leading Pakistani daily Dawn reported.
The polio team and its members were not hurt in the attack. The gunmen fled from the spot after taking the official weapons of police personnel. After the attack, the authorities suspended the anti-polio campaign in the area.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers in Pakistan have been frequently targetted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
On May 24, a police official deployed with the polio vaccination team was seriously injured in a firing incident near the Ishaqzai Qila area of Chaman district in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. However, the members of the polio team remained safe.
A police officer guarding the polio team was injured after unidentified assailants opened fire at him, according to police, Dawn reported. The injured police personnel was taken to hospital for treatment, while the polio team was safely taken to a safe location after the attack.
On May 18, at least two police personnel escorting polio vaccination teams were killed in separate incidents in Bajaur district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Unidentified assailants attacked the polio vaccination teams in Tabbai and Dag Qila regions of Salarzai, Pakistan-based Geo News reported, citing a senior police official.
Earlier in April, a police constable was killed and four others injured after a law enforcement party heading to provide security for polio teams in Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was attacked.
The incident happened during a polio vaccination campaign in Thall tehsil of Hangu on April 13, Dawn reported. In a statement, the Hangu district police said that unidentified assailants opened fire on a police party, killing a police officer and injuring four others.
–IANS
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