A team conducting a validation survey for a polio vaccination campaign in Tangir, an additional Diamer, Gilgit-Baltistan district, was attacked and threatened by armed attackers on Sunday, according to media Reports.
The incident, which, according to officials, was linked to the presence of team members, occurred while the team returned after having finished their work on the affected field.
According to the first information report (FIR) filed with the Jaglot police station, the team has been working in the region for two days, checking the coverage of vaccination.
Upon their return via Ric Bridge around 2:45 p.m., two armed people intercepted their vehicle, emitting verbal threats and accusing the team of disturbing the cultural environment of the region by providing “women revealed from Gilgit”.
One of the attackers would have shot the vehicle, damaging one of its tires before the two suspects stood towards neighboring mountains.
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GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that the attack was not linked to the opposition to the Polio itself, but rather to the public presence of female team members.
“The Polio team had entered Tangir without prior coordination. Ideally, the team should have informed the district administration and the police,” he said.
All the team members, including the Zonal Bilal coach, the health worker Kainat Hussain and the drivers Adnan, Iqbal and Muhammad Hussain, were unharmed. They were quickly moved to a safe place after the attack, according to reports.
The GB chief minister Haji Gulbar Khan ordered the police to take immediate measures to apprehend unidentified attackers. Faraq reassured that the polio vaccination campaign would continue as expected, with additional security measures to protect health workers in sensitive areas.
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Earlier, the first case of wild polio was reported in Diamer. The case, verified by the regional reference laboratory for the eradication of polio at the National Institute of Health (NIH), is the eleventh confirmed case of wild polio in the country until now in 2025.
Last week, a police officer was martyred and another injured officer when unidentified attackers opened fire in a polio vaccination team in Nushki, Balutchistan. The team was carrying out routine vaccination work when the attack occurred.