Armed attackers targeted a police vehicle escorting polio vaccination workers in Pakistan’s northwestern region on Tuesday, resulting in the death of one officer and injuries to four others, according to law enforcement officials. Police forces engaged the assailants, killing two of them during the firefight.
The assault took place in Hangu district within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which shares a border with Afghanistan, as reported by local police official Mahmood Alam. The incident coincided with Pakistan’s launch of its second countrywide polio prevention initiative this year.
Although no organization has taken credit for the attack, authorities suspect involvement by the Pakistani Taliban or regional extremist factions known for conducting similar assaults throughout the area. According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the sole remaining nations where polio transmission continues.
During the weeklong immunization effort targeting more than 45 million children under age 5 nationwide, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari called on families to have their children vaccinated. She emphasized that the initiative will coordinate with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border disease spread and address remaining coverage gaps.
The First Lady, whose parents are President Asif Ali Zardari and the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto—who was assassinated by militants in 2007 after championing polio elimination efforts—issued a statement declaring that “Pakistan stands at a crucial moment in the fight against polio.” She noted that despite being closer to eradication than ever before, “the final stretch remains the most challenging.”
She pointed to progress made, citing 31 polio cases documented across Pakistan in 2025 compared to just one case recorded this year, while cautioning against overconfidence.
Pakistan’s vaccination strategy involves teams visiting homes directly to immunize children, contrasting with Afghanistan’s approach of operating fixed vaccination centers where families bring their children for shots.
In Afghanistan’s capital, Ministry of Public Health spokesman Sharafat Zaman announced the start of the country’s first annual polio vaccination drive, conducted alongside international organizations to immunize approximately 12.6 million children under 5 years old. He noted that harsh weather conditions have caused delays in certain regions.
Zaman appealed to parents, religious leaders, and community figures to maximize campaign participation, emphasizing that vaccination remains the sole method of polio prevention.
Pakistan’s anti-polio efforts have continued for years despite ongoing threats to health workers and their police escorts from militants who spread false claims that vaccination programs represent Western plots to harm children’s fertility.
Security forces have positioned thousands of officers to safeguard workers after receiving intelligence about potential attacks. Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio vaccination workers and their police protectors have lost their lives in Pakistan, according to government figures.
