In an unfortunate incident, a polio vaccination team was attacked by unknown gunmen in the Mir Dara district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving three police officers wounded. According to the local police spokesperson Zaheer Afridi, the police guards were present to provide security to the vaccination team when the attack took place. The attackers, however, managed to escape successfully.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the polio virus still prevails. Because of this, polio vaccination campaigns have been consistently carried out in the country for a long time. Unfortunately, some militant groups regularly target polio vaccination teams and even the law enforcement officials accompanying them. These attacks make it challenging to eradicate the poliovirus in the region, putting countless children’s lives at risk.
