A bombing close to a women’ faculty in western Pakistan on Friday resulted within the tragic deaths of seven individuals, together with 5 youngsters, throughout an assault aimed toward police defending polio vaccinators, officers reported.
“The police van that was targeted was transporting personnel assigned to safeguard polio workers,” mentioned Rahmat Ullah, a senior police officer, in a press release to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He famous that “a girls’ school is located near the site of the attack” in Mastung, Balochistan province.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the one international locations the place polio stays endemic, and vaccination groups are continuously focused by militants waging a marketing campaign towards safety forces.
“Seven people – one police officer, five children, and one shopkeeper – were killed in the attack at the city’s main market,” senior officer Abdul Fatah advised AFP.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi earlier put the dying toll at three youngsters and one police officer.
“Targeting children is an act of brutality,” he mentioned in a press release.
No group instantly claimed accountability for the blast.
Earlier this week, two cops guarding polio vaccinators going door-to-door in northwestern Pakistan have been shot useless in an assault blamed on militants.
This assault got here a day after Pakistan launched a week-long drive aiming to immunize greater than 45 million youngsters over the age of 5.
Pakistan has seen a surge in polio circumstances this yr, recording a minimum of 41 to date in 2024, in contrast with six in 2023.
The nation has additionally been battling a resurgence of militant violence in its western areas since 2021 when the Taliban returned to energy in Afghanistan.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants staging assaults on Pakistan from throughout the border.
The most lively group in Balochistan is the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group that commonly targets Islamabad’s safety forces and residents from different elements of Pakistan.
Source: www.dailysabah.com