- The Balochistan government lifts strict action against guilty.
- Attack called conspiracy to spread fear, sabotage drive.
- Premier says Polio Team protected children’s future.
Nushki/Quetta: A police constable that provided security to an anti-polio team was martyrated while another persistent injuries when unidentified attackers opened fire against them in Nushki, Balochistan, on Tuesday.
The incident caused the authorities to temporarily suspend the ongoing polio vaccination campaign in the district.
The Pakistan Polio program officially embarked on its third national immunization Days (NIDS) campaign Monday to make Pakistan a poliofri nation.
The week -long campaign aims to immunize over 45 million children under five. This effort is seen as a crucial step in the country’s last push to stop poliovirus transfer and achieve extinction by the end of 2025.
According to the spokesman for the Balochistan government, Shahid Rind, the attack was an attempt to sabotage an important national campaign and admit fear among the public.
“The anti-polio drive is a national obligation, and any attack on it is intolerable,” he said in a heavily formulated statement, calling the assault a conspiracy to derail the campaign and spread panic.
Rind also said that operations against terrorists would be intensified and promised to bring the guilty rapidly to justice.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in strong terms and expressed heartfelt compassion with the family of the martyred police officer.
President Zardari said the war against polio was not over and repeated Pakistan’s obligation to eradicate the disease. “We won’t rest until polio is completely removed,” he declared.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it was absolutely unacceptable to attack a team that worked to protect children’s future. “Those who try to derail the polio campaign will be treated,” he warned.
In Pakistan and the nearby Afghanistan – the only countries where polio remains endemic – militants for decades have targeted vaccination team and their security shirts.
Over the past decade, hundreds of police officers and health workers have been killed by militants.
Polio, a very infectious virus that mainly affects children under five, can result in lifelong paralysis, but is easily prevented by the oral administration of a few drops of a vaccine.
Pakistan recorded an increase in polio cases last year, with 74 reported infections, compared to only six in 2023. Meanwhile, nine has been reported in 2025 so far.
In April, two tax staff were martyrated in Mastung’s Kali Teri area in Balochistan when unidentified attacks opened fire on a polio team’s security detail.
In the same month, a policeman also embraced martyrdom, while a terrorist was killed in a fire exchange following an attack on police staff guarding a polio vaccination team in Khyber Pakhwa’s South Waziristan District.
