PAKISTAN EXPLOSION

Blast during polio vaccination drive kills five police officers and injures two dozen

epa11063944 Pakistani security officials inspect the scene of a bomb blast that targeted the police near the Afghan border in Bajaur, Pakistan, 08 January 2024. Five police officers were killed and nearly two dozen others wounded in an explosive attack targeting their vehicle during a polio vaccination drive in northwestern Pakistan, police said. The blast occurred in Bajaur, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as the vaccination campaign began. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban has previously targeted polio vaccination workers and security officials. Resistance to the immunization drive has grown due to historical CIA involvement and misinformation spread by religious leaders. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are yet to be declared free of the wild poliovirus type 1, with Pakistan reporting a considerable reduction in polio cases in 2023. The attack on the vaccination team comes amid a surge in violent incidents in Pakistan, with over 600 attacks and more than 950 fatalities reported in 2023, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies, a research organization based in Islamabad. EPA/HANIFULLAH KHAN

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