Two martyred in firing during anti-polio drive in Bajaur

BAJAUR: Two, including a policeman guarding workers during an anti-polio drive in Bajuar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were martyred in firing by unknown armed men, ARY News reported.

According to local police, the anti-polio team was targeted in Salar Zotangi area of Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistan on Monday launched its final nationwide anti-polio drive for 2025.

The National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) said that the seven-day anti-polio drive will continue until December 21 and aims to administer polio drops to more than 45 million children across the country.

In Punjab, over 23 million children are set to be vaccinated, while Sindh will cover more than 10.6 million children anti-polio drops.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the campaign targets over 7.2 million children, whereas more than 2.6 million children will be vaccinated in Balochistan.

In Islamabad, polio drops will be administered to over 460,000 children. Gilgit-Baltistan will see vaccination of more than 228,000 children, while over 760,000 children will be covered in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, it was reported, citing sources, that the nationwide anti-polio drive, held in October, ‘failed’ to achieve set targets.

The campaign ran nationwide from October 13 to 19, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children, the sources said. However, 1,096,525 children missed out on the vaccine, with 721,296 children unavailable for vaccination. Additionally, there were 53,621 reported cases of vaccine refusal during the campaign.