KHYBER – A policeman escorting an anti-polio team was shot dead in an area of tribal district, Khyber, on Monday.
Unknown assailants targeted the police officials near Sakhi pul in Jamrud town of the district. Constable Abdul Khaliq was shifted to a hospital with bullet wounds but he could not survive.
Security forces have cordoned off the area to collect evidence while efforts are underway to trace the suspects.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally launched the first anti-polio drive of the year to eradicate the poliovirus from the country.
Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister expressed the determination to eradicate polio from Pakistan. He said millions of children will be vaccinated across the country during this campaign.
He said Islamabad, through international partners, also has close coordination with Kabul and hopefully poliovirus will be eliminated from neighbouring Afghanistan as well through mutual support.
PM Shehbaz appreciated and thanked international partners, including WHO, UNICEF, and Saudi Arabia for their generous support in fighting fatal diseases.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq said over four hundred thousand polio workers, including two hundred and twenty-five thousand women vaccinators, will go door to door to vaccinate children below five years of age in Pakistan.
She said the polio workers will administer polio drops during the seven-day drive starting from Monday.
