CTD reports 15 attacks on polio teams in KP

PESHAWAR: The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has released a report revealing that 15 attacks have been carried out on polio vaccination teams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), ARY News reported.

According to the report, 13 police officers have been martyred and 36 injured while providing security for polio vaccination teams.

The report states that three attacks each were carried out in Bannu, Bajaur, and Tank, while one attack each occurred in Khyber, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan.

The CTD report identifies three militant organizations behind the attacks on polio teams.

Anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them.

A five-day anti-polio campaign started Monday in nine high-risk districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Health workers were tasked with administering vaccines to some 3.28 million children under age 5. More than 26,000 police are protecting the teams.

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.

Pakistan yesterday reported the fifth poliovirus case of the current year, sources within the Ministry of National Health said.

The latest case is a two-year-old child from Quetta, Balochistan, who tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).