PESHAWAR – Militants ambushed a seven-member medical team vaccinating against polio in Safi tehsil of Mohmand Agency on the border with Afghanistan, killing two workers and abducting three others.
The remaining two polio workers managed to escape the attack and reached Ghalanai, the Agency’s headquarters, where they informed about the incident, according to authorities.
Subsequently, a search operation was conducted in the area following which three of the five kidnapped officials were released. However, whereabouts of two others, including a driver from the team and another worker, had not been ascertained till this report was filed.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra took notice of the incident, seeking a report from the political administration of Mohmand Agency. He said that the enemies of Pakistan cannot bear to see the health factors of the country improve.
Attacks targeting polio teams were very frequent in Pakistan. Last month, a group of Pakistani polio workers was attacked by a school’s administration in Karachi after the team attempted to vaccinate its students against the disease.
Pakistan is one of the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
