2 cops escorting polio team martyred in Quetta

Two policemen escorting a polio vaccination team were martyred on Tuesday when armed men opened fire on them in Quetta’s Nawa Killi area, police said.

The attack comes on the first day of a week-long campaign to administer the polio vaccination to approximately 2.6 million children under five years of age in Balochistan.

Zarghoonabad Station House Officer (SHO) Asif Marwat confirmed the casualties to Dawn.com. He identified the deceased as constable Shaukat Ali and Syed Muhammad.

The SHO said that members of the polio team did not sustain any injuries in the attack but added that the polio campaign in Nawa Killi and its surrounding areas had been suspended.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo took notice of the incident and sought a report on the attack from the concerned officials. He termed the incident a conspiracy against the healthy future of the nation’s children.

“The negative propaganda against the polio campaign and the malicious intentions of the anti-state elements will be thwarted,” he said as he called for bringing the perpetrators under the law.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in a statement, condemned what he called a “terrorist attack” on the polio team in Quetta. He also expressed grief and sorrow over the deaths of the two policemen.

He expressed the hope that the perpetrators of the attack would soon be behind bars. FM Bilawal said that elements involved in endangering the health of the nation’s children would be dealt with an iron fist.

“Authorities concerned should ensure foolproof security of polio teams, The people should fully cooperate with polio workers,” he said.