Polio worker, policeman killed in attack on vaccination team in Bajaur, Pakistan

A polio vaccination team was attacked by unidentified gunmen in the Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, earlier today. The assault claimed the lives of a frontline polio worker and a police constable assigned to protect the team, while another member was injured.

The Khorasan Diary reported that the attack occurred during the ongoing sub-national vaccination campaign, marking the second violent incident in this round that has resulted in fatalities.

Authorities have launched an investigation, but no group has claimed responsibility for the assault. This tragic incident is part of a disturbing trend of escalating violence against polio teams in Pakistan throughout 2024, as militants and extremist factions continue to target efforts to eradicate the disease.

Speaking to Nukta, senior journalist Iftikhar Firdous remarked that the increasing presence of terror groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan not only indicated “a collapse of governance and security systems” but also had repercussions in other sectors.

“2021 onwards we’ve seen policemen escorting polio workers being the prime targets of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while the group has denied that health initiatives are not their target. More recently, however, we have seen the Islamic State Khorasan targeting not just the policemen but also polio workers,” Firdous said.

He noted that anti-polio campaigns and polio workers, being non-combatant entities, are easy targets and hence are more vulnerable to attacks than law enforcement personnel.

Attacks on polio teams surge

The year began with an attack on January 9 in Bannu district, where two policemen were killed and two others injured as terrorists ambushed officers safeguarding a polio team. The ensuing police operation led to the deaths of two attackers. Just days later, on January 12, a police constable was gunned down by assailants near Eastern Bypass School in Quetta, while protecting polio workers, who fortunately escaped unharmed.

Another deadly incident followed on January 19, when a polio program official was killed, and a policeman was injured in Bajaur district after unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle. In February, on the 28th, tragedy struck again in Lakki Marwat district, where the decapitated body of a polio vaccinator was discovered near his home, a day after he returned from vaccination duty.

The following month, violence persisted. On March 4, in Khyber district, a polio vaccinator and a policeman were injured in a shooting attack during vaccination efforts. The following day, on March 5, a police officer escorting a polio team in Mardan district was injured after gunmen opened fire and fled the scene.

Graph showing attacks on polio workers in Pakistan from the year 2012 to 2024. Data Source: South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). Infographic: Sundas Moin

In April, attacks continued. On April 5, a policeman guarding a polio team in South Waziristan was shot and killed. Less than two weeks later, on April 20, a frontline polio worker was kidnapped by militants in North Waziristan but later released after tribal elders intervened. On April 30, a police officer was shot dead in Bajaur while protecting another polio vaccination team.

Violence escalated in May and June. On May 2, a police van guarding a polio team in Tank district came under heavy fire, but the attackers managed to escape. On June 3, in Lakki Marwat again, one assailant was killed and a policeman injured during a clash with attackers targeting a polio team. The violence persisted on June 4 when a policeman assigned to polio duty in Peshawar was shot and killed by unidentified assailants.

On July 11, militants in Dera Ismail Khan stopped a polio team, forcibly taking their vaccines and motorcycle at gunpoint, and issued threats against future vaccination efforts. Most recently, on September 9, a bomb targeted a vehicle carrying polio workers in South Waziristan, injuring three workers and three police officers. The Islamic State Khorasan Province later claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Research conducted by Sundas Moin*