The polio campaign which was to be started in Khyber district from today has been postponed after the local police refused to perform duty, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.

The reason behind the refusal was the transfer of Khyber police to Peshawar, it was learnt.

The Khyber deputy commissioner issued a notification which directed to postpone the campaign till the end of the police boycott.

A few days back, two policemen were martyred in an attack on a police vaccination team in Quetta.

The martyred cops were accompanying the polio vaccinators in Nawan Kalli area of the Balochistan capital when they were fired upon.

The two policemen were identified as Shaukat Ali and Syed Mehdi.

The polio team was reported to be safe in the gun attack. A heavy contingent of police and FC personnel rushed to the site of the incident and cordoned off the area.

Two to three policemen are posted with every polio team as part of the security measures in view of the rising threat against polio workers.

The attack came when a campaign was underway to administer polio vaccination to approximately 2.6 million children under five years of age across Balochistan.

As many as 11,539 teams of health workers had been formed for the weeklong campaign.

In March, Pakistan had reported its first case of polio in 2023. Districts in southern KP and Balochistan, which lies along the Pak-Afghan border, are considered to be the virus hotspots.

 

Reporter: Amir Shahzad