Quetta (Web Desk): A police constable, guarding an anti-polio vaccination team, was martyred and another sustained injuries when unidentified gunmen opened fire in Balochistan’s Nushki district on Tuesday.
According to reports, the local authorities took immediate action and temporarily suspended the polio immunisation campaign in the district as a precautionary measure.
The attack came just a day after the Pakistan Polio Programme launched its third National Immunisation Days (NIDs) campaign.
This latest phase of the initiative is part of a broader strategy to eliminate poliovirus from the country, with a target to immunise more than 45 million children under the age of five. The campaign is viewed as a crucial move toward achieving complete eradication of the disease by the end of 2025.
Following the incident, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind strongly condemned the assault, characterising it as a deliberate attempt to derail a vital national health effort and spread fear among the public.
He emphasised that the anti-polio drive is a national duty and any attack on it would not be tolerated. Rind further stated that security forces would intensify their operations against those responsible and vowed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice without delay.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have condemned attack on polio team in Nushki.
Issuing a message regarding ongoing countrywide polio eradication campaign, the president paid tribute to brave polio workers for risking their lives to reach every child.
“Through continuous vaccination campaigns, effective monitoring and courage of health workers, polio cases have decreased by more than ninety percent,” President he said.
The president, however said war against polio is not yet over.
In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday condemned a firing incident targeting an anti-polio team in Noshki, Balochistan and expressed his grief over the death of Abdul Wahid, a police personnel.
The prime minister expressed condolence and sympathy with the bereaved family of Shaheed police personnel.
He reiterated that attack on polio vaccination team that was securing future of children was unacceptable, adding the miscreants working against anti-polio drive would be dealt in strongly.