Polio drive hit by Hangu attack as cop is killed, 4 officers wounded

Pakistan’s latest nationwide anti-polio campaign came under immediate pressure on Monday after armed attackers targeted a police party assigned to escort vaccinators in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district. One police constable was killed in the assault and four other officers were wounded, turning the opening day of the week-long drive into one of the country’s most urgent domestic security stories.

The attack took place in Thall tehsil as a police team was moving to provide protection to polio workers. According to the initial official account, gunmen opened sudden fire on the escorting officers before they could reach the vaccination team. The injured personnel were shifted to hospital, while the area was placed under emergency security attention as authorities tried to establish the full sequence of events.

Police said the firing triggered an immediate response from the security team. In the exchange that followed, two attackers were reported killed, although their bodies were later removed from the scene by their accomplices. That detail pointed to a planned assault rather than a random act of violence, and it reinforced concerns that militant networks remain capable of striking even during heavily guarded public health operations.

The incident was especially significant because it happened on the first day of a countrywide anti-polio campaign running from April 13 to 19. Such campaigns rely on large field deployments of health workers, volunteers and police escorts moving house to house in areas considered vulnerable because of both low immunisation coverage and security threats. Monday’s attack underscored how quickly a health mission in Pakistan can become a frontline security challenge.

Although the article’s early version focused on confirmed casualties and the police statement, the broader implications were immediately clear. For years, vaccinators and the officers assigned to protect them have faced threats from militants and armed groups spreading fear, misinformation and resistance around polio drops. The state has repeatedly insisted that these operations will continue despite violence, but each new attack exposes the personal risk carried by the people sent into the field.

The Hangu assault also revives a familiar national dilemma. Pakistan has spent years trying to eliminate poliovirus, yet security disruptions, public mistrust and operational barriers have repeatedly complicated the effort. In several high-risk districts, vaccinators cannot move safely without police cover, meaning the success of a health campaign often depends as much on law-and-order conditions as on medical planning and public awareness.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has long been one of the key provinces in that struggle. Its geography, security history and pockets of resistance to vaccination have made it one of the most closely watched regions in every major anti-polio round. When an escort team is attacked there, the impact goes beyond one district because it can affect morale, movement planning and community confidence across the wider campaign.

For Pakistan, the stakes are larger than one tragic incident. Every disruption to immunisation drives risks leaving more children unprotected and gives the virus another chance to circulate. At the same time, repeated attacks on police and vaccinators send a damaging message about the state’s ability to secure essential public services. The cost is therefore measured not only in casualties, but also in delayed health goals, shaken public trust and pressure on an already stretched security apparatus.

The immediate priority will be to secure vaccination teams, maintain the campaign schedule and prevent fear from slowing field operations in sensitive districts. Investigators are also expected to pursue those behind the ambush and determine whether the attackers belonged to a larger organised network. What happens next will matter greatly: if authorities keep the campaign moving while tightening protection, Pakistan can show resilience in the face of violence; if the attack disrupts the drive more widely, it will mark another painful setback in the country’s long battle against polio.