Constable martyred in firing on polio team in Dera Murad Jamali

DERA MURAD JAMALI: A police constable was martyred on Wednesday after unidentified armed men opened fire on a polio team in Dera Murad Jamali, a town in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district, according to police officials.

Police said the vaccination team was returning home during a lunch break when gunmen riding motorcycles targeted the police personnel assigned to protect them. Constable Farhan Bashir was killed in the attack.

Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police Asad Nasir said the other members of the team were not injured. “A constable was martyred after armed men opened fire on police personnel. However, the other members of the team remained unhurt in the firing,” Nasirabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asad Nasir told Dawn.

The SSP said the attackers fired ten 9mm bullets at the constable, causing his death at the scene, before escaping.

Nasir said no group had so far claimed responsibility for the assault. He added that a search operation had been launched to trace those involved in the incident.

Nasirabad Deputy Commissioner Zulfiqar Ali Karrar said the anti-polio drive would continue in the district despite the attack.

Campaign continues despite attack

The incident took place during the second nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, which began on Monday. The campaign aims to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five.

The attack in Dera Murad Jamali came on the same day another security-related incident linked to the anti-polio campaign was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Hangu district, a police constable was martyred and four others were injured when a law enforcement party was attacked while on its way to provide security for polio teams.

Polio workers and the security personnel deployed with them have repeatedly faced threats during vaccination campaigns in different parts of the country. In this case, officials said the team members in Dera Murad Jamali survived the shooting, while the constable assigned to their protection lost his life.

Authorities have said the immunisation campaign in Nasirabad district will proceed despite the killing, while police continue efforts to locate the assailants who fled after the shooting.