Adam Khan North Waziristan
Unidentified assailants shot and killed two police officers assigned to polio vaccination teams and a polio worker in North Waziristan’s Datta Khel area on Tuesday, the district’s polio emergency response unit said.
The victims were busy with polio vaccinations when they came under attack, an official said, adding that a child was also injured during the incident after he was shot in the leg. He has been moved to the Miran Shah District Headquarter Hospital.
The attackers, on the other hand, managed to escape from the area.
The official added that police and law enforcers immediately reached the spot and began a search operation to trace the attackers.
Later, Deputy Commissioner Shahid Ali Khan also confirmed the incident and the number of casualties. A search operation is underway in the area and further information will be shared in due course, he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was “deeply anguished” by the news. The prime minister said he had ordered Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and submit a report at the next cabinet meeting.
A funeral for the police officers was later held.
Eleven cases of polio have so far been reported in the country this year compared to only one in 2021. All the 11 cases were reported from North Waziristan.
