Militants kill policeman in another attack on polio workers in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawar: Unknown gunmen killed a policeman on security duty with polio vaccinators in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday in a second attack within 24 hours and the third one since Monday.

The gunmen on motorbikes opened fire at the team of polio workers killing constable Noor Alam in Domel police station jurisdiction in Bannu district bordering Afghanistan, police said here. The assailants escaped after the attack.

An angry mob put the body of the slain cop in front of the police lines to protest the rising trend of targeted killings of policemen on duty with polio teams in southern districts of the province.

On Wednesday, police constable Alam Khan and a polio worker were killed after unidentified gunmen ambushed a team of polio vaccinators in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur district.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack. Militants frequently target the polio workers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Meanwhile, in Lakki Marwat district, policemen are on protest for the last four days in view of the increased attacks on security personnel guarding the polio teams. Some officials also attributed the protests to the presence of the military in the district.

Earlier on Monday, at least six people, including three policemen, were injured in a bomb explosion that targeted a vehicle carrying workers associated with the Pakistan Polio Programme in South Waziristan district’s Wana town.

So far this year, 12 polio cases have been reported from Balochistan, three from Sindh, and one from Punjab and Islamabad each. This has prompted the government to increase vaccination against the crippling virus.