On Sunday, gunmen killed a police officer escorting a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s northwest, the second such death in two days, police said.
The attack in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa came just one day after two Pakistan Taliban members, known as TTP, killed down another police officer who was escorting a similar vaccination team in the same area.
“Two gunmen riding a motorbike opened fire on a policeman who was guarding a two-member female polio vaccination team in the Sheikh Uttar area, killing him on the spot,” Tank district police chief Sajjad Khan told the news reporters.
Amanat Ali, a local police official, verified the occurrence and stated the offenders had gotten away.
No one has claimed credit for the killing, although a TTP spokesman claimed responsibility for the strike on Saturday.
The attacks came three days after the armed group announced the termination of a month-long ceasefire agreement with the government, accusing authorities of breaking the conditions of the truce.
According to an audio message released late Friday by Pakistani Taliban leader Noor Wali Mehsud, no progress had been made in new negotiations with the Pakistani government.
For the first time since 2014, Prime Minister Imran Khan declared in October that the government was in talks with the organisation, aided by the Afghan Taliban, who seized power across the border in August.
After establishing in 2007, the TTP, a distinct movement from the Afghan Taliban, pushed Pakistan into a period of terrible warfare.
In the past, police guards protecting vaccination workers in Pakistan have been attacked, primarily by local armed rebels who believe the vaccination campaigns are a Western plot to sterilise youngsters.
According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Pakistan is one of two nations where polio is still prevalent, however only one case has been reported this year, down from 84 in 2020.
Polio is a disease that primarily affects youngsters and can leave them permanently disabled.
The World Health Organization (WHO) made it essential for all travellers travelling from Pakistan to have a polio vaccination certificate in 2014, however the requirement is not strictly implemented.
