SWAT/QUETTA: A Levies official assigned to protect a polio vaccination team was shot dead on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen ambushed health workers in the remote Anzar Tangay Byakan area of Matta tehsil, officials confirmed.
Swat District Police Officer said the attack occurred while vaccinators were administering doses under the ongoing national immunisation campaign. Security forces rushed to the area and cordoned it off as a search operation began to locate the perpetrators.
In a separate incident in Quetta, unidentified men intercepted police officers guarding polio teams in Mianghundi and seized their weapons and protective vests, authorities reported. The attackers fled the scene, prompting a manhunt by law enforcement agencies.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the killing, describing it as a “cowardly assault” on those working to protect children from disease. He extended condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for the martyred officer, reiterating that such acts would not derail Pakistan’s fight against polio.
“The government’s determination to eliminate polio is unwavering,” the prime minister said, stressing that vaccination efforts would continue despite threats.
The attack coincided with a week-long national campaign launched by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) to immunise over 45.4 million children under five years of age. The drive, which runs from October 13 to 19 across 159 districts, involves more than 400,000 health workers conducting door-to-door vaccinations and administering Vitamin A supplements.
Authorities said the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will carry out the campaign from October 20 to 23 due to local conditions.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the poliovirus continues to circulate. Health and security personnel involved in eradication drives have frequently come under attack, with hundreds losing their lives in the past decade.
The virus, which targets the nervous system and can cause lifelong paralysis, is preventable through repeated oral vaccinations.
According to official data, Pakistan has reported 29 cases of poliovirus so far this year — 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In 2024, 74 cases were recorded, compared with six in 2023.
