Cop guarding polio workers killed in Bajaur gun attack
Despite the attack, the campaign continues in all areas
PESHAWAR (Web Desk) - Gunmen shot dead a police officer guarding a polio vaccination team on Wednesday in a remote area close to the Afghan border, police said.
“Two motorcycle riders opened fire... as a result, the police officer died on the spot, but the polio team remained unharmed,” Niaz Muhammad, a police officer in Bajaur district, told AFP.
The start of the polio campaign had been delayed in the district for security reasons, after a rise in militant attacks in the area, said Waqas Rafiq, a senior police official.
“Despite the attack, the campaign continues in all areas (of the district) except the site of the incident,” he said.
Polio mostly affects children under five and sometimes causes lifelong paralysis but can easily be prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of vaccine.
