2 injured in attack on anti-polio team in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR: Apolio worker and a policeman were injured on Monday when unknown gunmen opened fire at an anti-polio vaccination team in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, police said.

The incident occurred in the Bar Qambar Khel area of the Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan, according to the police.

The bike-borne gunmen opened fire at the anti-polio team, injuring a male polio worker and a policeman escorting the team. Both the injured were shifted to the Peshawar Hospital and admitted for treatment.

The attackers managed to flee the scene after firing. Police contingents rushed to the area and sealed the surroundings to capture the fleeing attackers.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the incident and directed the police to arrest the culprits expeditiously.

Gandapur also instructed foolproof security arrangements for the polio team in the province.

Incidents of attacks on polio teams in the province have claimed scores of lives, including those of polio workers and policemen escorting the vaccinators in the recent past.

In January, a polio immunisation programme coordinator was killed, and a policeman was injured when their vehicle was attacked in the province.

Earlier in the same month, two people were injured when a bomb planted on the roadside hit a vehicle in the Bajaur tribal district.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation.