ISLAMABAD (AP) — Suspected militants opened fire on a vehicle carryingpolice officers assigned to protect polio workersin northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing one of them and wounding four others before fleeing the secene, police said. Two attackers were killed when police returned fire.
Pakistan Polio
The shooting occurred in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, shortly after Pakistan launched its second nationwide anti-polio campaign of the year, according to local police official Mahmood Alam.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban and local militant groups, which often carry out similar attacks in the region and elsewhere.Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistanremain the only countries where polio has not been eradicated, according to the World Health Organization.
First lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated during the weeklong drive, which aims to reach more than 45 million children under 5 across all provinces and regions. She said the campaign will be conducted in coordination with Afghanistan, reflecting a shared commitment to interrupt cross-border transmission and close remaining gaps.
Aseefa is the daughter of President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was killed in a 2007 gun and bomb attack by militants, and who had personally overseen initiatives aimed at eliminating polio during her tenure. In a statement, she said “Pakistan stands at a crucial moment in the fight against polio.” She said while the country is closer than ever to eradication, “the final stretch remains the most challenging.”
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Highlighting recent gains, she said31 polio cases were reported nationwide in 2025, while only one case has so far been recorded so far this year, but warned against complacency.
Pakistan’s polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
Authorities havedeployed thousands of police officers to protect workersfollowing intelligence warnings of possible attacks. More than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to guard them have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to officials.
Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan.