A series of violent attacks on polio workers and police officers have rocked the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, leaving at least seven cops dead and 15 wounded in the past two days.
On Tuesday, terrorists ambushed a polio team in Bannu district, killing two policemen and injuring two others. The polio workers were escorted by the police as they were administering vaccine drops to children under five years of age.
The DIG said that the terrorists opened fire on the police vehicle and then fled to a nearby house, where a gunfight ensued. The police have cordoned off the area and are trying to flush out the attackers.
This incident came a day after a similar attack in Bajaur district, where an improvised explosive device (IED) hit a police van that was carrying polio workers to their assigned areas. Five policemen were martyred and 13 were injured in the blast, which took place in Mamund area of Bajaur.
The injured were rushed to the hospital, where an emergency was declared. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the authorities suspect the involvement of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has opposed polio vaccination campaigns in the past.
These attacks have cast a shadow over the nationwide anti-polio drive, which aims to vaccinate over 40 million children in 159 districts of the country. The drive, which started on Monday, will last for five to seven days, depending on the region.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis and death in children. Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria. The country has reported 84 polio cases in 2023, up from 12 in 2022, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The government and its partners, including the WHO and UNICEF, have been trying to eradicate polio from Pakistan for decades, but have faced resistance and violence from some segments of the society, who view the vaccination as a conspiracy to harm their children or their faith.
The polio workers, who are mostly women, have shown remarkable courage and dedication in the face of these challenges, risking their lives to reach every child with the life-saving drops. The police have also played a vital role in providing security and support to the polio teams.
The government has condemned the attacks and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. It has also appealed to the public to cooperate with the polio workers and ensure that their children are immunized against the crippling disease.
The polio workers and the police deserve our respect and gratitude for their noble service to the nation. They are the true heroes who are fighting to protect our future generations from polio.