Four polio workers abducted by armed men in Tank district
Unidentified armed men abducted four polio immunisation workers in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after firing on them. Police have started an investigation and efforts to recover the workers.
- Four polio workers were abducted in a village of Sheikh Attar union council, Tank.
- Police said the gunmen took them to an undisclosed location.
- Two vaccinators abducted in Azam Warsak were later released.
- Pakistan's seventh polio case of the year was confirmed in K-P.
Unidentified armed men abducted four polio immunisation workers in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after opening fire on them, according to reports by Express News, The Express Tribune and Daily Times.
The incident took place in a village in the Sheikh Attar union council of Tank. Police said the gunmen took all four workers to an undisclosed location.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident and have begun efforts to recover the workers. The Express Tribune and Daily Times reported that details about the perpetrators and the whereabouts of the abducted workers were not immediately available.
Separately, two members of a polio vaccination team were abducted in the Azam Warsak area of Lower South Waziristan. Both vaccinators were later released. Sources said the suspects in that case were affiliated with the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, according to the reports.
Express News reported that a four-day anti-polio campaign began on Monday in Hangu, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The district police officers of the three districts, Salahuddin Kundi in Hangu, Shafiullah Gandapur in Bannu and Zia-ud-Din Ahmad in Dera Ismail Khan, are personally supervising security for the campaign.
Police personnel on duty were told to wear bulletproof jackets and helmets, avoid using mobile phones and remain fully alert, Express News reported.
The Express Tribune also reported that the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication confirmed Pakistan's seventh polio case of the year, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The infected child is a 13-month-old girl from Jan Baz union council in Bara tehsil, the second case from Khyber district this year. Of the seven cases nationwide, six are from K-P and one is from Sindh.
Why it matters
Attacks on polio teams threaten the vaccination drive that protects children across Pakistan. Six of this year's seven reported polio cases are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the abduction took place.
