KHYBER: A policeman embraced martyrdom in an attack on polio vaccination team in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday.
A policeman, Abdul Khaliq, was martyred after unidentified assailants opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Khyber district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to District Police Officer (DPO) Khyber, Rai Mazhar Iqbal, the attack took place near Ghundi in the Bakarabad area of Jamrud police jurisdiction.
Police officials reported that while the polio team members remained unharmed, the motorcycle-riding attackers managed to escape. Two 30-bore bullet casings were recovered from the scene.
The DPO stated that checkpoints had been set up at various locations to apprehend the assailants.
Meanwhile, a health department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the polio team in Bakarabad has been recalled, and the vaccination campaign had been postponed.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched a nationwide anti-polio campaign for the year 2025 (Feb 3-9) by administering polio drops to children under the age of five.
Addressing the launching ceremony, the prime minister reaffirmed his government’s determination to eliminate the polio disease from Pakistan. –Agencies
