ISLAMABAD - An explosion targeting a police van while the police were on their way to carry out their duties in the anti-polio campaign, martyred a policeman and injured two others in Kalachi, Dera Ismail Khan, on Tuesday, according to local police.
Notably, Vaccinators and police teams have previously been targeted in the country, where rumors have persisted about immunization programs being harmful or a cover for foreign interests.
But a shift to recruiting local workers for the door-to-door campaigns – people known and trusted in their communities and with the right language skills and access – had led to better acceptance.
Pakistan has seen a 96% reduction in polio cases since 2014. It is one of three countries that has yet to eliminate the disease, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria.
Earlier on Monday, a suicide bomb attack near a religious rally in the Pakistani city of Quetta has killed at least seven people and wounded 25 others, according to officials.