This is the second murder of police officers on polio duty nationwide in as many days.
A police constable, identified as Maqsood, 35, a resident of Kheshgi, who was part of the security detail of a polio vaccination team, was killed on Wednesday when unidentified assailants opened fire in Kaahi area in Nizampur, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said.
According to the police spokesperson, the attack occurred while polio workers were administering drops to children inside a house. The attackers managed to flee after the incident. A search operation is being carried out to capture them.
This is the second such incident in three days since the launch of the new national anti-polio campaign. The state-run APP reported that a Levies officer, identified as Abdul Kabeer, who had been assigned to protect a polio vaccination team, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Swat district on Tuesday.
Federal Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and paid tributes to the martyred police officer. “Police constable Maqsood earned the great honor of martyrdom while doing his duty,” Naqvi said. “An attack on a team working for the safe future of our children is intolerable.”
Read: Officer guarding polio vaccination team martyred in KP
“The workers were administering vaccines inside a home while the officer stood guard outside when he was attacked,” he said. “The attackers fled the scene after the incident.”
The government has launched a national polio eradication campaign targeting more than 45 million children. A special order had been issued for the campaign, deploying additional police officers and staff. The national campaign against polio was scheduled to take place throughout the country from October 13 to 19. More than 400,000 health workers will go door-to-door to ensure children are vaccinated against polio, according to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Safety risks, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation continue to slow eradication efforts.
Read more: Today the national campaign against polio begins
More than 25.4 million children nationwide have received polio vaccines in the most recent campaign. In Punjab, 14.3 million children were vaccinated against polio, while in Sindh, 5.019 million children received the vaccine. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3.774 million children received polio drops and in Balochistan, 1.45 million children received the vaccine. In Islamabad, 203,000 children were vaccinated, while Gilgit-Baltistan reported 187,000 children and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 481,000 children received the drops.
Polio vaccinators, who vaccinate children door-to-door, are often targeted by militants, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. In 2024 alone, at least 20 people were killed and 53 injured during anti-polio operations in KP.
Data from September showed a decline in vaccine refusal during the latest immunization campaign in KP, although in some areas, such as Lowi Mamund Tehsil, residents announced a boycott of the campaign.
