ISLAMABAD: A police constable was martyred and a terrorist killed in a gun battle after militants attacked security personnel guarding a polio vaccination team in South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to police sources, the constable was on duty as part of the ongoing anti-polio campaign when the ambush took place.
Security forces recovered a cache of weapons from the slain attacker, including a rocket launcher, a machine gun, and two motorcycles. Additional items recovered at the scene included a national identity card, three ATM cards, and a smartphone.
A case has been registered at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Azam Warsak police station.
The incident comes amid a surge in militant attacks, especially in KP and Balochistan, since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad continues to allege that many of these attacks are being coordinated from Afghan territory.
The assault occurred just one day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched Pakistan’s second national anti-polio drive of 2025, running from April 21 to April 27.
Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside Afghanistan. Polio teams and their security escorts have frequently come under attack. In 2024 alone, at least 20 people were killed and 53 injured in similar assaults in KP.
A similar tragedy occurred in February, when a police officer was gunned down in Bajaur while en route to guard a vaccination team.
