PESHAWAR, Feb 3: The Pakistani Taliban claimed the killing of a police officer as he travelled Monday to guard polio vaccinators on the first day of a nationwide immunisation effort after a year of rising cases.
The officer was travelling to guard polio vaccinators in the area of Jamrud town in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when he was killed, local police official Zarmat Khan told AFP.
"Two motorcycle riders opened fire on him," he said. "The constable died instantly at the scene."
Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where polio is endemic and militants have for decades targeted vaccination teams and their security escorts.