Gunmen have shot and killed a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in northwestern Pakistan, officials say.
The office of the deputy commissioner for the Bajur tribal district said that the police officer was on his way to a health center in the village of Dabra on September 24 when he was shot.
A local government official, Anwarul Haq, said that a number of suspects were detained following the attack in Bajur district, which borders Afghanistan.
Taliban militants have killed scores of anti-polio workers in Pakistan in the past decade because they believe vaccination campaigns are part of a Western conspiracy and claim that it will sterilize Pakistani children.
No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest killing, which came amid a weeklong, nationwide campaign aimed at vaccinating 38.6 million Pakistani children under the age of 5.
A three-day anti-polio drive was launched in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the seven tribal districts on September 24, during which more than 6.5 million children were expected to be vaccinated.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio is still endemic.
A UN-funded vaccination campaign has helped Pakistan to control the spread of the disease. The number of newly affected children came down to only four so far this year compared to 306 in 2014.
Police Officer Guarding Polio Team Killed In Northwestern Pakistan

Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Interview: For Putin, The War In Ukraine Is Hard To Win And Even Harder To End
2Amid Worries Over Russian Forces In Belarus, Former Security Officer Says Belarusian Conscripts Won't Fight
3Punished By Western Sanctions, Russia's Airlines Are Showing More Cracks And More Problems
4Kyiv Says Forces Outnumbered, Battling 'Intensifying' Russian Attacks Near Bakhmut
5Romance And Realism: The Former Banker Photographing Rural Romania
6Russia Shifting War Focus To 'NATO And The West,' Says EU Official
7'Not Everyone Supports This Crazy War': Life In Russia's Embattled Belgorod Region
8Romania's Traditional Clothing Makers Call For Action After UNESCO Listing
9Poland Recruits Record Number Of Soldiers Following Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine
10The Week In Russia: 'A Great Sin'
Subscribe