Polio vaccination nationwide campaign kicks off amid cop's martyrdom in KP's Khyber

• Police say assailants managed to escape after attack. 
• Official says vaccination team recalled from Bakarabad area. 
• Seven-day anti-polio virus drive kicks off countrywide.

KHYBER: A policeman was shot dead when armed assailants opened fire at the anti-polio vaccination team being escorted under police security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district on Monday.

The inoculation team was ambushed during the vaccination drive in the Bakarabad area on the first day of anti-polio virus campaign, which was launched across the country this morning. Fortunately, the polio workers remained safe in the attack but the policeman assigned for their security was died on the spot.

"Two motorcycle riders opened fire" on the officer, who was travelling to guard polio vaccinators, in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern KP, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP.

Police said that assailants managed to escape after the attack, while the vaccination drive was suspended in the area.

The martyred cop was identified as constable Abdul Khaliq. 

Upon receiving information about the incident, a heavy police contingent reached the site and cordoned off the area within the jurisdiction of Jamrudabad Police Station. 

Checkpoints were also established at various locations to apprehend the terrorists, police said.

"Despite the incident, the polio vaccination drive in the area remains ongoing," Khan said.

However, the health department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the polio vaccination team was recalled from the Bakarabad area, and the campaign there had been postponed.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, however KP — which neighbours Afghanistan — is a hive of militant activity.

The Pakistani Taliban are the most active group in the area.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had launched seven-day anti-polio campaign across the country, the first this year. A total of 945 polio teams are participating in the campaign, aiming to vaccinate 208,000 children in the Khyber district.

Meanwhile, anti-polio vaccination drives kicked off in various parts of Punjab, KP, Sindh and Balochistan. However, the campaign in Quetta will begin tomorrow.

While inaugurating the campaign, the premier reaffirmed his government’s determination to eliminate the crippling disease from the country. He said that the national polio vaccination drive would target millions of children in the country to save their future and health.

Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic and the vaccination teams frequently come under attack, which at times also results in the deaths of polio workers and security personnel.

The country has seen an alarming surge in polio cases last year, recording 77 cases compared to six in 2023.

Balochistan — which also abuts Afghanistan — was the area with the largest number of polio cases in 2024, despite being the most sparsely populated.

Polio can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine, but authorities’ rigorous efforts towards polio eradication face significant challenges, particularly in areas where insecurity, misinformation, and parental refusals hinder vaccination campaigns. 

In more recent years the attacks have focused on vulnerable police escorts accompanying the vaccinators as they go door-to-door.

Pakistan has witnessed rising militant attacks since the Taliban returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan.

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in 2024 — the deadliest year in almost a decade — according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

Islamabad accuses Kabul's new rulers of failing to rout militants organising on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government routinely denies.

In November, at least seven people — including five children — were killed in a bombing targeting police gathered to guard vaccinators near a school in southwestern Balochistan province.