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Two police officers protecting polio workers in Pakistan shot dead

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Gunmen on a motorcycle ambushed a police car traveling to guard vaccination teams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two officers and wounding a third. No healthcare workers were present in the vehicle, and the attack closely follows the kidnapping of four other protective officers in the province on Monday. The violence disrupts a nationwide campaign launched on Sunday that aims to inoculate nearly 24 million children across 97 high-risk districts.

Key points

  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounts for six of Pakistan's eight confirmed wild poliovirus cases r…: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounts for six of Pakistan's eight confirmed wild poliovirus cases reported so far this year.
  • Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two global nations where the wild po…: Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two global nations where the wild poliovirus is still endemic.
  • Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the deadly violence and honored the office…: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the deadly violence and honored the officers for performing a national duty.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The attackers, travelling on a motorcycle, opened fire on a police car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Gunmen have shot dead two police officers protecting polio vaccination teams in northwestern Pakistan, a day after four officers protecting polio workers were kidnapped.

The attackers, travelling on a motorcycle, opened fire on a police car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. A third officer was injured in the attack, which occurred as the officers were travelling to a nearby village to protect polio vaccination teams.

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“Two police personnel were martyred and another was injured in the attack. However, no polio vaccination staff were present in the police vehicle,” police official Ali Rehman Khan told the AFP news agency.

No one has claimed responsibility for the shooting, but similar attacks have regularly been carried out by the Pakistan Taliban, known by…

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