A soldier of Khasadar forces was killed and two volunteers were injured when unidentified armed men attacked a polio vaccination team in Kalaan village of Mamoond area of Bajaur Agency on Monday.
Officials in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur, said two volunteers and two personnel of Levies Forces were engaged in vaccinating children in Kalaan when the armed persons opened fire at them. One of the soldiers was killed on the spot, while the two volunteers were left injured. The injured were shifted to a hospital where their condition was said to be out of danger.
Despite the deadly attack, the administration ordered continuation of the anti-polio vaccination drive in Bajaur. The drive will be completed by Wednesday and 223,570 children below ages of five years will be vaccinated. Officials said 626 teams had been constituted for the purpose.
Pakistan Today tried contacting doctors from FATA Health Directorate, UNICEF and WHO for information regarding the attack on polio team, but all of them were reluctant to comment.
Polio vaccination teams have been under attack across the country from the last several months. A couple of months ago, polio vaccinators and security personnel were attacked in Karachi, Charsada and Khyber, Mohmand and Kurram Agencies.