Gunmen in two separate attacks Monday shot and killed two police officers assigned to protect polio vaccination teams in northwest Pakistan before fleeing, officials said.
The attacks occurred in two areas of Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, police officer Zafar Khan said, as Pakistan launched a new campaign across the country to vaccinate 19 million children against polio in an effort to eradicate the crippling disease.
The attacks happened when the officers were returning home after protecting polio teams, Khan said.
Health workers and police officers assigned to protect them are frequently targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination drives are part of a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. More than 200 polio workers and police officers assigned to protect them have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to officials.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the martyrdom of two policemen, Qadir and Aziz, in the firing on a polio team during an anti-polio campaign in Tabbai and Dag Qila areas of Salarzai in Bajaur district.
In a statement, while condemning the incident, he prayed for the policemen martyred in the blast and expressed his condolences to their families. “The government will continue the polio eradication campaign in the country in a full-fledged manner,” he said, adding, “The government is unwaveringly determined to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi condemned the firing incident sought a detailed report from the Inspector General of Police regarding the attacks on polio teams.
Separately, a police constable was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the limits of Yarik Police Station here on Monday.
According to a police spokesman, Constable Abdul Aziz had stepped out of the police station to a nearby hotel for tea when unknown gunmen opened fire on him. He sustained critical injuries and died on the spot, while the attackers managed to escape after the incident.
In another incident, a Federal Constabulary (FC) personnel identified as Mujib was martyred after an unidentified gunmen opened fire on him in Tank district.
Tank police informed, the incident took place on Ali Khel Road within the jurisdiction of Saddar Police Station.
Police said, Mujib, who was on leave and had returned home, was traveling from his village Ali Khel to Tank city for some personal work when armed attackers targeted him.
Separately, a vehicle exploded near a police check post on Marai Road, killing one person and injuring several others, the official sources said on Monday.
In a separate attack, a powerful explosion in Wana Bazaar of South Waziristan district killed prominent tribal leader Malik Tariq Wazir and two others, while at least seven others were injured.
According to the initial police report, the blast targeted the vehicle of Malik Tariq Wazir in the busy market area. Rescue teams immediately reached the scene and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital.
Rescue 1122 personnel are continuing relief operations, while police and security forces have cordoned off the site and launched an investigation into the incident.
Police have not yet confirmed the nature of the blast.