Lahore: At least seven people, including five school children and a policeman, were killed in an explosion near a girls’ school in Balochistan, Pakistan. The blast took place during a polio vaccination drive on Friday.
‘The police van that came under attack was taking personnel for the protection of polio staff. There is a girls’ school near the place of the attack in the city of Mastung in Balochistan province,’ Rahmat Ullah, a senior police officer, told AFP. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.
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Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants waging a campaign against security forces.
Earlier this week, two police officers guarding polio vaccinators going door-to-door in northwestern Pakistan were shot dead in an attack blamed on militants. The attack came a day after Pakistan launched a week-long drive aiming to immunise more than 45 million children over the age of five. Pakistan has seen a surge in polio cases this year, recording at least 41 so far in 2024 compared with six in 2023.
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