GILGIT: A polio vaccination team escaped unharmed after unknown armed men opened fire on them in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, where the region recorded its first case of wild poliovirus this year.
According to a first information report (FIR) filed at the local police station, the incident occurred on Sunday when two armed men stopped the polio team’s vehicle at the RCC bridge in Sheikho village of Tangir Valley. This area falls within the constituency of Gilgit-Baltistan’s Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan.
The men accused the team of “ruining the environment” by bringing “unveiled women” from Gilgit for the vaccination campaign. Before opening fire, they warned the team that if they returned, they would not escape. The vehicle sustained a punctured tire from the shooting. The armed men fled toward a nearby hill after the attack. The polio team members remained safe and uninjured.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:45pm, according to the FIR. Following the attack, the polio monitoring team was relocated to a safe place, said Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq.
He added that the chief minister had taken notice of the incident and ordered strict action against the attackers. Faraq also pointed out that the polio team had entered the area without notifying local police, which contributed to the security lapse.
This attack coincides with the confirmation of the first-ever wild poliovirus case in Gilgit-Baltistan. The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad verified that a 23-month-old child from Tangir area of Diamer district was diagnosed with poliovirus.
The child had no history of travel outside the area. However, genetic analysis confirmed that the virus strain originated from the Liaquatabad area of Karachi.
The health secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, Asifullah Khan, said that although the child had received polio drops during vaccination campaigns, the vaccines that should have been given immediately after birth were missed. The polio case has not yet been publicly announced by the health department.
This diagnosis brings the total confirmed wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan to 11 for 2025. Pakistan remains one of the only two countries globally, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite extensive vaccination efforts, the eradication campaign faces challenges including security threats to vaccination teams, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation.
The third nationwide polio vaccination campaign for 2025, launched on May 26, recently concluded. It successfully reached over 45 million children under five years of age across 159 districts, covering high-risk zones.
The Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has urged all parents to ensure their children receive polio drops during every campaign and complete the full immunisation schedule.
Previously, Gilgit-Baltistan was declared polio-free with no reported cases of the disease. The emergence of the new case raises concerns about virus circulation in the region. The polio virus is highly infectious and can cause irreversible paralysis, with no cure available. Protection relies solely on repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine for children under five.
Last year, Pakistan recorded more than 70 polio cases across approximately 90 districts. The country has conducted multiple vaccination campaigns this year, including injectable polio vaccine drives in Quetta and Karachi targeting around one million children.
Following the attack on the polio team, police have registered a case and initiated an investigation. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to continue the vaccination campaign with enhanced security measures to protect health workers in vulnerable areas.
