On the first day of Pakistan’s polio vaccination program, a police officer was shot dead in Jamrud, near the Afghanistan border. According to AFP, two gunmen were involved, and they have not been apprehended.
Medical teams and police are frequently targeted by extremists in Pakistan, who claim the vaccination campaign is a Western conspiracy to sterilize Pakistani children. Thousands of officers have been deployed to protect the vaccination teams, who are going door-to-door to immunize children.
Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif condemned the attack and pledged to continue the campaign to “eradicate polio in the country.” The program aims to vaccinate over 44 million children under five within a week. Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by the poliovirus, which has been eradicated in the Netherlands but persists in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
It primarily affects young children, and while most infections are asymptomatic, the disease can cause paralysis and be fatal. Since the 1990s, more than 200 vaccination workers and officers have been killed according to Pakistani authorities.
In December last year, a roadside bomb exploded next to a vehicle carrying officers protecting aid workers, killing three policemen. In August 2022, two gunmen opened fire on officers escorting a vaccination team, resulting in two fatalities.
The vaccination workers were unharmed. Pakistani authorities report that groups such as the Pakistani Taliban are behind the attacks.
Source: NOS