A police constable was killed and a militant eliminated during a clash after armed assailants targeted a polio vaccination team in South Waziristan on Monday, according to authorities.
The constable, who was on duty as part of the vaccination campaign, was martyred during the attack. The slain terrorist was found armed with a rocket launcher, machine gun, and two motorcycles. Additionally, officials recovered a national identity card, three ATM cards, and a smartphone from the militant’s possession.
A case has been filed at the CTD Azam Warsak police station. This incident is part of a broader surge in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, following the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistani officials attribute these attacks to militant groups operating from Afghan soil.
The attack occurred just a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the country’s second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, which runs from April 21 to April 27. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries still grappling with polio outbreaks.
Polio vaccination teams have regularly been targeted by militants, with 20 fatalities and 53 injuries reported during the 2024 anti-polio campaigns in KP. Earlier this year, a police officer was martyred during a similar attack on a vaccination team in Bajaur, KP.
