Five children among seven killed in attack on Pakistan polio vaccine drive

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemns onslaught adjacent a girls’ schoolhouse successful the southwestern state of Balochistan.

At slightest 7 people, including 5 schoolchildren, person been killed and 23 injured successful a bombing adjacent a girls’ schoolhouse successful southwestern Pakistan, officials said.

Friday’s onslaught targeted constabulary guarding a polio vaccination drive successful Mastung, a municipality successful Balochistan province.

“The people was a constabulary van which was going to prime up a polio [vaccination] team,” Senior Superintendent of Police Rahmat Ullah told the Reuters quality agency.

One constabulary serviceman and a shopkeeper were besides killed successful the explosion, elder constabulary serviceman Abdul Fatah told the AFP quality agency.

The blast was believed to person been caused by an improvised instrumentality attached to a motorcycle parked adjacent the school.

No radical has claimed work for the attack. But Islamabad has often blamed the Taliban authorities successful neighbouring Afghanistan for failing to basal retired attacks connected Pakistan from crossed the border.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said “targeting children is an enactment of brutality”.

On Tuesday, a policeman was killed successful an onslaught connected a wellness bureau that manages door-to-door polio vaccination campaigns.

The attacks person coincided with Pakistan’s 3rd nationwide polio campaign, which was launched connected Monday amid a important emergence successful cases of the viral disease.

It aims to vaccinate 45 cardinal children nether 5 crossed 71 districts and comes successful effect to 41 polio cases reported predominantly successful the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.

Polio cases had dropped successful 2023 to six, from 20 successful 2022. Pakistan and Afghanistan stay the lone countries wherever polio is endemic.

Armed groups person antecedently targeted polio teams, spreading mendacious conspiracy theories that the vaccinations are portion of a Western sterilisation programme.

Pakistan is facing a surge successful deadly attacks successful its northwest and a increasing separatist question successful the south.

The astir progressive radical successful Balochistan is the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist radical that regularly targets Islamabad’s information forces and citizens hailing from elsewhere successful Pakistan.

Health workers people locations arsenic they administer polio vaccines to children during a door-to-door vaccination run successful Karachi, Pakistan, connected October 31, 2024 [Shahzaib Akber/EPA-EFE]

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies