BAJAUR / SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: On Wednesday, six individuals, including three security personnel, a polio worker, and two laborers, were killed and twelve others injured in separate incidents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur and South Waziristan districts.
In Bajaur’s Salarzai tehsil, a police officer and a polio worker were shot dead by unknown assailants targeting a vaccination team. Later in Mamund tehsil, a security official was killed in a roadside blast.
In Lower South Waziristan’s Angoor Adda area, gunfire resulted in the deaths of a paramilitary soldier and two laborers.
The attack on the polio team occurred around midday in the mountainous Mala Said Banda area of Salarzai tehsil on the third day of an anti-polio campaign. According to police and Rescue 1122 officials, the team was on foot when gunmen opened fire, killing Constable Luqman Khan and polio worker Abu Huraira instantly.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Riaz Ahmad Khan confirmed that the bodies were taken to District Headquarters Hospital in Khar, with both laid to rest following funeral prayers.
In response, police in Bajaur declared a boycott of the anti-polio campaign, as shown in a video clip released by the officers. They planned a protest meeting at the police line in Khar and demanded the arrest of those responsible for Khan’s death.
District Police Officer Waqas Rafique stated that search operations were underway for the attackers, who had fled on motorcycles. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the incident, describing it as a cowardly attack on those protecting children’s futures and urging that the attackers receive no leniency.
In a separate Bajaur incident, a roadside bomb struck a vehicle, killing one security official and injuring four others. The explosion occurred around 11am in Nimat Khan Kallay.
In Lower South Waziristan, a gunfight at an FC checkpoint near Angoor Adda resulted in the deaths of a paramilitary soldier and two laborers, with eight others injured. The clash, which lasted several hours, was the third attack in the region in four days.
The injured were transported to District Headquarters Hospital in Wana, where Deputy Commissioner Nasir Khan and District Health Officer Inayatur Rehman visited.
