1 Pak soldier killed, another injured after gunmen attack polio vaccination drive in restive northwest

Peshawar, Jun 1 (PTI) At least one soldier was killed and another injured when unknown assailants attacked a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said. The terrorists fired at a polio team in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan tribal district, killing a soldier and injuring another, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said on Wednesday.

The statement said that the security forces deployed with the polio vaccination team ensured the safety of all members of the team and extricated them unharmed. After the incident, security forces sealed the area and launched a search operation to arrest the culprits. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the ISPR said.
Meanwhile, the door-to-door oral anti-polio vaccination campaign is underway in the province amid tight security. Attempts to eradicate the crippling virus have been seriously hampered by the deadly targeting of vaccination teams in recent years by militants, who oppose the drives, claiming that polio drops cause infertility. Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with its neighbour Afghanistan.