At least five police personnel were martyred and 22 others were injured in a bomb attack on a police vehicle in tehsil Mamond of Bajaur district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Monday.
The police personnel were on their way to perform security duty for polio vaccinators when their vehicle was targeted. Police officials confirmed the casualties and said the area was cordoned off soon after the explosion. The dead and injured were transported to nearby medical facilities.
Rescue 1122 officials said some of the injured police personnel are in critical condition and an emergency has been declared at Khar Hospital. A police spokesperson confirmed that all the injured and dead were from the provincial police force and were deputed for polio duty.
Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on strongly condemned the terrorist attack on the police personnel assigned to protect the polio team.
Expressing his heartfelt condolences to the families of the martyred police officers, the caretaker PM prayed for the quick recovery of those injured in the attack and directed concerned authorities to provide all essential medical assistance to the injured.
“The entire nation salutes the security personnel and the polio workers,” Kakar said in a press statement. “The terrorists will never be successful in their nefarious aims.” He further stated that the anti-polio campaign would continue vigorously until the virus is completely eradicated within the country. “People should not be deceived by any negative propaganda regarding the polio vaccine,” the prime minister maintained.
In his statement, Kakar also assured the people of the country that the anti-polio vaccine has been endorsed by the Al-Azhar University in Cairo as well as by scholars across the world.
Last year, a suicide blast targeted a political gathering and killed at least 63 people.
The blast occurred in Khar tehsil of the district, a town bordering Afghanistan. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers along with the local leader were present at the convention when the suicide blast ripped through it. The Islamic State-Khorasan claimed the deadly suicide bombing. As per the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), 560 acts of terrorism were reported in the tribal areas of KP in 2023.
