A roadside bomb exploded on Monday, targeting a vehicle assigned to protect health workers conducting a polio immunization drive in South Waziristan, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in northwestern Pakistan. The blast wounded nine individuals, including six police officers and three civilians, but no health workers were injured, according to local police official Tahrir Sarfraz.
The attack occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where security forces had been deployed to safeguard the anti-polio campaign. While no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, it is suspected that militants targeted the police vehicle, as anti-polio campaigns in Pakistan frequently face violence from insurgents.
This incident comes just hours after the launch of a major vaccination drive aimed at reaching 30 million children. Pakistan has reported 17 new polio cases since January, endangering the progress made in eradicating the disease. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio transmission remains endemic.
Polio, a potentially deadly and paralyzing disease, primarily affects children under the age of five and is spread through contaminated water. Despite ongoing efforts, the disease continues to pose a significant public health challenge in the region.