Quetta:
A police officer assigned to the protection of health workers was martyred on Tuesday in the Balutchistan Noshki district after unidentified attackers opened fire in a polio vaccination team.
The officer killed, identified as Waheed Ahmed, son of Muhammad Hashim and resident of Jamalabad, Noshki, was part of the security details deployed to protect the workers of the polio administering oral vaccines to children as part of the current national immunization campaign.
According to security officials, the attackers fled the scene immediately after the ambush. The organizations responsible for the application of laws have launched a research operation in the region, while the forensic teams have collected evidence of the site.
The attack occurred during an edition of eradication of Polio Country, one of the many coordinated campaigns in progress in the provinces of Pakistan.
According to the Center for Emergency Operations (EOC), the Balutchistan campaign aims to vaccinate 2.6 million children under the age of five, as part of Pakistan’s wider effort to eliminate poliovirus. Balutchistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind firmly condemned the attack, describing it as a deliberate attempt to undermine a critical public health initiative.
“These cowardly acts are a direct attack on our mission to protect children from a paralyzing illness. The sacrifice of this courageous policeman will not be vain,” he said.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack on the Polio team in Noshki.
In a message, the president paid tribute to the dedication and courage of the workers of Polio.
In a separate press release, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack and extended condolences and sincere sympathies to the martyr family.
