Two policemen killed guarding polio team in Tank

PESHAWAR: Two police personnel deployed on polio campaign duty were martyred in Tank city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when unidentified men opened fire.

The incident happened in Kot Azam, Tank district within the limits of Gomal police station. The attacked managed to escape on motorcycles after the incident.

The police constables were identified as Pir Rehman and Nisar. A large contingent of police reached the site and shifted the body to hospital.

A senior police officer said two gunmen hiding near a small water channel opened fire on the policemen from a very close range. He said the gunmen spared the two-member polio vaccination team and fled on a motorbike.

President Dr Arif Alvi strongly condemned terrorist attack and expressed deep grief and sorrow over the killing of the sepoys. He t said the sacrifices of security personnel and health workers during the national polio drive would not go in vain.

He said elements carrying out such abhorrent attacks were the enemies of the future of the country’s children. He expressed the resolve to completely eliminate polio in Pakistan with joint efforts.

He also prayed for the high ranks of the departed souls, expressed his deep sympathy with the bereaved families and prayed for them to bear the losses with equanimity.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, saying the enemies of the health of the nation’s young generation would be strongly dealt with. He expressed sympathies with the policemen who lost lives in the line of duty and said the nation paid tribute to the great sacrifices rendered by police.

PM Shehbaz said those involved in the attacks on the polio team wanted to make the children of the country suffer from disabilities due to the crippling disease. He vowed to eliminate the persons pursuing such agenda and nefarious designs against the young generation.

A ten-day campaign was kicked in Tank on Monday to administer vaccination drops to more than 74,954 children aged up to five years.

The drive, which will continue from August 15 to 24, had been formally inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Tank by giving polio drops to the children on the occasion of Independence Day.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the virus hasn’t been eradicated. Scores of polio workers and security officials guarding them have been killed since 2012 by militants.

In April, Pakistan reported the first case of polio in 15 months. Since then 14 polio more cases have been reported, mostly from North Waziristan district.

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