Скачать или смотреть At least 2, including police constable, killed in attack on polio team in KP’s Bajaur

At least two people, including a constable, were killed after unidentified assailants attacked a polio team in the Salarzai tehsil of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, the police said, as the nationwide polio campaign entered its second day.

The attack comes a day after the government launched the final polio campaign of 2025, which is set to run until December 21.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) police, Israr Khan, confirmed to Dawn that two people, including a passerby and a policeman guarding the polio team, were killed in the attack on Tuesday afternoon in the Thangi area of Salarzai.

Khan identified the martyred cop as Constable Sajad Ahmed, who passed away after sustaining critical injuries, while another civilian was “shot dead by the armed men when he attempted to chase after the assailants.”


“Local residents also confirmed the account, while the assailants managed to escape,” Khan said, adding that the police had launched a search operation.

He also confirmed that no polio workers were harmed in the incident.

Polio vaccinators, who go door-to-door to inoculate children, are frequently targeted by militants, esp­e­cially in KP and Balochistan. In 2024 alone, 20 people were killed, and 53 were injured during anti-polio campaigns in KP.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi condemned the attack, extending condolences to the families of the deceased, according to a statement posted on X by his digital media spokesperson.

“Polio workers and the security personnel assigned to protect them are performing their national responsibility,” KP CM was quoted as saying.

He termed the incident “an assault on humanity and national responsibility”.

He vowed that the “campaign will not be allowed to be impacted in any way”