A bomb hits a vehicle guarding an anti-polio campaign in Pakistan, injuring nine people – ABC 6 News

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb on Monday struck a vehicle carrying officers assigned to protect health workers conducting a polio vaccination campaign in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in northwestern Pakistan, wounding six officers and three civilians, officials said.

No polio workers were injured in the attack in South Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said local police officer Tahrir Sarfraz.

He said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack, which was clearly directed against police.

In Pakistan, anti-polio campaigns are regularly marred by violence. Militants attack vaccination teams and the police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

The latest attack came hours after Pakistan launched a campaign to vaccinate 30 million children against polio. Since January, 17 new cases have been reported in Pakistan, jeopardizing decades-long efforts to eradicate polio in the country.

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a market in downtown Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/KM Chaudary)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/KM Chaudary

Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.

The potentially fatal, debilitating disease primarily affects children under five and is typically spread through contaminated water.

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