Polio campaign supervisor Jalil Khan abducted in Jamrud, search under way
A health worker vaccinating a child against polio in Pakistan, shown in a file photograph. (NOT today's abduction — a file photograph of vaccination.)
Jamrud: A polio campaign supervisor was abducted by unidentified armed men in Jamrud, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Wednesday, and police have launched a search operation to recover him. District Police Officer Waqar Ahmad said the supervisor, Jalil Khan, was picked up from the Chapri area while he was on duty during the ongoing polio campaign.
How the abduction happened
According to police, the armed men took Khan to an undisclosed location. The abductors have not been identified, and no group has claimed responsibility for the incident. Police teams are searching the area and checking key routes in an effort to trace him. So far, officials have announced neither any arrest nor the confirmed recovery of the supervisor.
A shadow over the campaign
The abduction comes at a difficult moment for the campaign, and for the teams working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular. A day earlier, two police constables travelling to guard polio teams were killed in Mohmand, and a day before that, four members of a vaccination team were abducted in Tank. Taken together, the incidents have pushed the same question to the front again: getting the drops to children is one job; getting the teams there safely is another.
Campaign runs until November 8
The sub-national campaign began on November 2 and runs until November 8 across 97 selected districts, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre, with a target of reaching nearly 24 million children under five. More than 200,000 frontline workers are taking part. Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan are the only countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic — which is why every campaign depends not only on the drops themselves, but on the safety of the hands that carry them door to door.
