Seven cops guarding polio team shot dead in Karachi

The incident took place in Orangi Town 15 Bangla Bazaar area. The deceased cops were deployed for security of the ongoing polio vaccination campaign.

The seven slain cops were identified as Daimuddin, Rustam, Ismail, Wazir Ahmed, Ghulam Rasool, Ghazi Khan and Yaseen.

Police confirmed that eight shooters on four motorcycles carried out the shootings.

Here is the CCTV footage of the attack, in which it can be visibly seen how the attackers shot at the police officers at close range.

CCTV footage of Orangi Town attack by arynews

After the incident, extra contingents of the law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene of the attack and launched their investigation. The area has been cordoned off.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the terrorist attack in Karachi and offered his condolence to the families of the slain cops.

Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah took notice of the shooting incident and has asked IG Sindh A.D. Khawaja to submit the report of the incident.

The bodies of slain policemen were moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Seven cops killed in attack on polio… by arynewsThe polio campaign came to a halt whereas shops and business closed following the shooting incident in the area. Anti-polio campaign has been suspended in the sensitive areas of the city including Orangi Town, Malir, Gadap and Ittehad Town, authorities said.

SP Orangi Town said that the attackers used pistol and were on motorcycles. He added that the arms used by the shooters will be investigated.

He added that two separate shooting incidents took place.

“The shooters first attacked a police mobile deployed for the security of the polio vaccination team in which four policemen lost their lives. They also fired upon the cops that were on foot leaving three of them dead”, he added.

The police mobile came under terrorists’ fire… by arynewsDIG West Feroze Shah said that the slain policemen were deployed in the area for security of the polio vaccination teams.

The campaign to eradicate the virus in Pakistan has had some recent success, with new cases down last year, but violence against vaccination workers has slowed the effort.

He added that investigation is taking place and the culprits will be arrested soon.

Pakistan’s polio cases are declining, with just 54 cases of polio virus reported last year, down more than 80 percent from 2014, when the country suffered a large spike in cases.

Efforts to eliminate polio in Pakistan have been complicated in recent years, as polio workers have faced attacks by militants who say the health teams are Western spies.

In January, a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people outside a polio eradication centre in Quetta, with two militant groups claiming responsibility.