A police officer was martyred in an attack by unknown assailants while providing security to a polio team in Balochistan on Tuesday. According to the police, the head constable was protecting the team administering the polio vaccine when he was shot dead. The deceased, Muhammad Hashim, was on duty in the Killi Tarata area. After the incident, the police cordoned off the area and began a search operation. An investigation into the incident has been initiated. The five-day anti-polio drive in Balochistan started on October 24. The coordinator of Emergency Operation Center (EOC) Balochistan, Zahid Shah said that the campaign would take place in 426 union councils of 19 districts of the province.

He said in a statement that the campaign aims to administer polio drops to over 1.7 million children up to five years of age in the districts. Read Anti-polio campaign launched in 28 K-P districts Around 6,820 teams would be assigned to administer polio drops to children during the campaign, he mentioned. He further said that  foolproof security would be provided to the staff during the campaign on which Balochistan Levies, Police, and FC would be deployed in order to control any untoward situation during the drive. Shah noted that although no case of polio has been reported in Balochistan since January 2021, the presence of poliovirus in other provinces of the country and Afghanistan was a challenge for Balochistan.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP