The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed the killing of a police officer as he travelled Monday to guard polio vaccinators on the first day of a nationwide immunisation effort after a year of rising cases.
According to police spokesperson Zaheer Ahmed, unidentified assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on the officer in the Ghundi area near Sakhi Pul.
Another police official, Zarmat Khan, told AFP that the polio vaccination drive remains ongoing despite the attack.
He said that the officer was travelling to guard polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when he was killed. The proscribed TTP claimed responsibility for the killing, adding that the militants also "seized" the slain officer's weapon.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also strongly condemned two separate attacks on polio vaccination teams in the Bakrabad and Jamrud areas of K-P. The prime minister expresses deep sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of police personnel assigned to protect the polio teams, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
