Four more cops guarding polio teams injured in DI Khan attack

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Four personnel of police, who were guarding polio teams, sustained injuries when a group of terrorists opened fire on them in Choudwan village located at the foothill of Sulaiman Mountains near here on Thursday.

Reports pouring in from the spot suggested that the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on the cops with heavy automatic weapons when the vaccinators were busy in the anti-polio campaign in Choudwan village.

As a result, four personnel of the police identified as Imdadullah, Suleman, Arshad and Inayatullah sustained bullet injuries. The police also returned the fire and forced the attackers to flee the scene.

This was the second such in the two days during the ongoing anti-polio drive. Soon after the incident, a heavy contingent of police rushed to spot and launched a search operation to arrest the perpetrators.

No individual or militant group has claimed responsibility for any of the two attacks. The anti-polio campaign was launched on January 2 and would conclude on January 6.

It may be mentioned that a cop escorting anti-polio vaccination team had sustained injuries when armed men opened fire on vaccinators in different places on the third day of the five-day campaign on Wednesday.

The members of the anti-polio team were returning from Hassani village in the limits of Dera Town Police Station after a vaccination campaign when gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on them.

A cop identified as Riaz Ali was injured while other members of the team escaped unhurt. Separately, the gunmen riding a bike also attacked another anti-polio team in Tausifabad area in the limits of Cantt Police Station. However, no casualty was reported in the second attack.