Assailants open fire on Pakistani Immunisation Unit

As per an initial police report (RIF), unidentified armed individuals discharged firearms at a polio immunization group in the Sheikho village of Diamer district, situated in the Tangir Valley, which is the constituency of Haji Gulbar Khan, a representative of the British government, Pakistan. The polio vaccination team remained unharmed. Following the incident, the assailants absconded, and the polio monitoring team was promptly relocated to a secure location, according to an announcement by British government representative Faizullah Faraq. Simultaneously, the initial instance of wild poliovirus was documented in a 23-month-old male child residing in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, thereby elevating the nationwide aggregate to 11 cases for the current year. The diagnosis was verified by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication, operating under the auspices of the National Institute of Health in Islamabad. During the preceding year, the nation reported over 70 instances of polio, with the virus detected in approximately 90 districts. The third nationwide polio immunization initiative of 2025, commencing on May 26 and concluding on June 1, successfully reached in excess of 45 million children under the age of five across 159 districts, encompassing areas within the country identified as being at high risk.