In the Mamund tehsil of the Bajaur district, a bombing on Monday targeted a police car, resulting in at least five police officials being martyred and 22 injured.
The police announced that they would guard the polio vaccination crews. They stated they feared more deaths from the tragedy.
They further said that the injured and dead have been sent to the Khar hospital, where an emergency has been declared. According to the police, the hospital requested blood donations in order to treat the wounded.
According to a police spokesperson, every victim was a member of the force.
Senator Sherry Rehman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) denounced the assault on the law enforcement officers stationed to protect the anti-polio team in Bajaur.
She remarked on X that the PPP is in sympathy with the families of the five employees who were killed in the explosion.
Terrorists have targeted not only the health of our children but also the police. Under no circumstances should an attack on the anti-polio team’s security be allowed, as it directly affects our children’s health, the spokesperson stated.
According to Sherry, the miscreants did not want polio to be completely eradicated in the nation. She insisted that the terrorists responsible for the event be apprehended right away and given harsh punishment.
Syed Arshad Hussain Shah, the acting chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, lamented the explosion and expressed sorrow over the lives lost. He expressed his condolences to the families of the slain as well.
Shah gave the district administration the order to give the injured people access to medical services right now.
Such cowardly assaults won’t weaken the will of the police. He stated, “KP Police have made many sacrifices to protect people’s lives and property. The heirs of the martyrs will not be left on their own and will receive all available assistance.”
According to AFP, a police officer was slain on December 1st, 2018, when militants ambushed a polio vaccination team. The incident happened in the area that used to be the tribal border, Malik Din Khel.
According to district police chief Saleem Khan Kulachi, “two gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on policemen guarding a two-member polio vaccination team.”
Only Pakistan and its neighbor Afghanistan still have an endemic polio outbreak, and militants regularly target vaccination workers in these two nations.
For the seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign that begins on Monday (today), every arrangement has been made.
For at least the next five years, Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Salim Rajput has instructed polio workers to vaccinate every child under five with polio drops, with a goal of 100%. He emphasized that the risk of the polio virus spreading would continue if not every youngster received these drops.
Additionally, attempts have been made to convince parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. All-inclusive strategies are being developed, and reports on immunization hurdles have been generated, along with lists of children and their parents.
According to the commissioner, those who are refusing vaccination have been identified, and field staff are actively involved in making sure no youngster is denied polio drops. In District East and District Central, meetings have been held with community mobilizers from more than 450 regions. They were reminded of how important it is to vaccinate every child in the nation against polio for the next five years at a rate of 100%. In order to guarantee that no child is deprived of polio drops, the officials emphasized how important parental cooperation is.
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