A police constable deployed for the security of a polio team was killed when unidentified assailants opened fire on him in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Nowshera district on Wednesday, police said.
The attack comes a day after another Levies constable was shot dead while guarding a polio team in the province’s Swat district. The government launched a nationwide polio eradication campaign earlier this week, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children. A special order was issued for the drive, with the deployment of 285 police personnel across the country to provide security to the vaccination teams.
A statement shared with Dawn.com by Nowshera police spokesperson Turk Ali Shah said that the constable, identified as Maqsood, was killed on the spot when assailants opened fire on him. However, he managed to protect the polio workers he was accompanying.
“The attack took place within the jurisdiction of the Nizampur police station,” the statement said. “Following the incident, security for polio teams across the area was tightened, while the campaign in the affected locality was suspended.”
It added that following the attack, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Mardan Jawad Qamar and District Police Officer (DPO) Nowshera Ahmed Shah visited the site and reviewed the situation.
“A heavy contingent of police reached the area soon after the incident, cordoned it off, and launched a search operation to trace the attackers,” the statement added.
Law enforcement agencies are making “full efforts” to arrest those involved, it said.
The statement further added that the funeral prayer for the martyred constable was offered with official honours at the Police Lines, Nowshera.
“The ceremony was attended by police and army officers, political and social figures, and a large number of locals.
“The body of the martyred officer was sent to his native place, Khushgi Bala, “where the martyr will be buried with full official honours,” it added.
Polio vaccinators, who go door-to-door to inoculate children, are frequently targeted by militants, especially in KP and Balochistan. In 2024 alone, 20 people were killed and 53 were injured during anti-polio campaigns in KP.
Data from September showed that the number of vaccine refusals in KP dropped in the most recent immunisation drive. However, in some areas, such as Lowi Mamund tehsil, residents announced a boycott of the drive.
In May, a policeman guarding a polio vaccination team was martyred in a gun attack by unidentified assailants in Balochistan’s Noshki district, while another was killed in KP’s Bajaur district in February.
Meanwhile, in August, two more polio cases were reported in KP, bringing the national tally to 23 this year.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had previously claimed similar attacks on polio teams, falsely portraying the inoculation campaigns as a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.
Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed the progress of eradication efforts.
