By Hamza Ameer Islamabad 17 August, Islamabad : At two police officers were killed in Pakistan’s Khyber Paktunkhwa province who were assigned to guard medical personnel who were administering the polio vaccine.
The incident took place in Tank district’s Kacha Gara area on Tuesday.
According District Police Officer (DPO) Waqar Khan, the gunmen managed to escape following the attack.
“Both constables died immediately,” he added.
On Monday, Pakistan launched a 10-day vaccination drive against polio in Khyber Paktunkhwa, deploying many of police officers to ensure safety and security of the polio health workers.
Khan stated that he has deployed a significant group of police in the area, and they are conducting a door to door search operation.
“We are hunting for the perpetrators and sooner or later, we will be able to catch them.Security of the vaccinations has been beefed up, and at least 273 teams are stationed in the district in support of the campaign,” he added.
Pakistan was polio-free for almost a whole year, however 14 cases of new cases, all coming from the province that is racked with violence has been recorded in the last few months.
Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where new cases of polio remain, even however, the amount of affected children has decreased dramatically compared to the 306 cases in 2014.
The law-and-order situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa deteriorated quickly following the surrender of Kabul to the Taliban last year.
The Afghan Taliban released all Pakistani prisoners and, as many claim, have crossed the border in order to conduct terrorist activities in the country.
Tank district has been one of the most sensitive areas as security forces, police security checkpoints, security guards and police health personnel have all been targeted and killed in the past, too.
According to reports, since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan Tehreek-e-Taliban, the terrorist group in Pakistan has been more active, as they have launched numerous targeted attacks on security officials.
Security forces and police are the primary targets of terrorist attacks and violent attacks.
The general population has also been a victim as traders continue to receive threats of extortion from militants who have Afghan SIM cards.
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