The officials said that the official was traveling in his car when gunmen lying in wait opened fire on his vehicle         Swabi district police officials can be seen during a patrol on November 27, 2023. — Facebook/District Police Swabi

KHAR: Unidentified armed men shot dead a senior official of the anti-polio programme, Dr Abdul Rahman Jan, in the Bad-e-Siya area in Mamund tehsil, Bajaur tribal district, police officials said on Friday.

The officials said that the official was traveling in his car when gunmen lying in wait opened fire on his vehicle. Dr Abdul Rahman, who was working as District Polio Coordinator in Bajaur, received multiple bullet injuries.

Dr Rahman was airlifted in a helicopter to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar but succumbed to his injuries. A cop Ilyas, who was deputed for his security, also sustained injuries in the attack. He was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar. The police registered the case against unidentified attackers and launched an investigation, said an official. The attacks on the cops on anti-polio duty have increased in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Bajaur, over the last few weeks. Five cops were martyred and 22 wounded in a roadside blast targeting a police van in Mamund tehsil of Bajaur recently. The van was carrying cops to provide security to the anti-polio teams in Bajaur.