Unknown gunmen kill police polio escort in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawar, Feb 19 (PTI) A police officer deployed for the security of polio vaccinators has been shot dead in Pakistan's northwestern Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday, officials said.
    The unknown gunmen riding bikes targeted the polio vaccinators in the Damadola area, Mamund tehsil, Bajaur district, bordering Afghanistan.
    The accused fled from the scene firing, killing the policeman guarding the vaccinators. The policeman died on the spot, a Bajaur police official told PTI.
    The entire area have been sealed and police launched massive combing operations to arrest the accused.
    More than 150 people linked to the polio drive have been killed across Pakistan since 2012.
    Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only two countries where the virus has never been stopped.
    Pakistan reported 77 polio cases last year. Afghanistan had 23 cases in 2024, according to WHO data.
    Pakistan has deployed thousands of police officers to guard health workers who go door-to-door to vaccinate children against polio.
    Militant groups have long opposed these campaigns, falsely claiming they are part of a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.
    While militant groups no longer claim responsibility for such attacks, Pakistani authorities believe that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its breakaway factions remain behind them.
    The TTP is an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)