LAHORE: Outlawed militant group Jundullah claimed responsibility for killing a polio vaccination team member in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

Ahmed Marwat, who claims to be the spokesman of Jundullah, said polio workers would always be on the group’s hit list throughout Pakistan and that it would continue carrying out attacks on them.

Take a look: Two policemen on polio duty shot dead

Today's attack — the latest of many on the teams — occurred in a residential area of Faisalabad in Punjab, where workers were immunising children on the second day of an anti-polio drive.

Mohammad Sarfaraz, 40, was a schoolteacher working as a volunteer in the campaign, senior police official Ali Waseem said.

“Gunmen on a motorcycle fired six shots and he died on the spot,” Waseem said.

Doctor Rana Waqar Sadiq, a senior health official, confirmed the killing of a member of his polio team.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic.

Examine: Poor anti-polio drive in KP worries UN agencies

Attempts to stamp it out have been badly hit by opposition from militants and attacks on immunisation teams that have claimed 67 lives since December 2012.

The militants claim that polio vaccination is a front for espionage or a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims.

Taliban insurgents had also claimed the killing of two policemen assigned to protect an immunisation team a day before.

Mohammad Khorasani, main spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the killing of two policemen in northwest Pakistan the day before.

They were killed in the town of Buner near the Swat Valley while on the way to protect a polio vaccination team.

“Police are our target and both the men were killed because they were from the police force,” Khorasani said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Explore: Lady health workers boycott anti-polio campaign in Quetta

Opinion

Editorial

Collective security
Updated 12 Mar, 2026

Collective security

Regional states need to sit down and talk. They must also pledge and work towards collective security.
Spectrum leap
12 Mar, 2026

Spectrum leap

THE sale of 480 MHz of fifth-generation telecom spectrum for $507m is a major milestone in Pakistan’s digital...
Toxic fallout
12 Mar, 2026

Toxic fallout

WARS can leave environmental scars that remain long after the fighting is over. The strikes on Iran’s oil...
Token austerity
Updated 11 Mar, 2026

Token austerity

The ‘austerity’ measures are a ritualistic response to public anger rather than a sincere attempt to reform state spending.
Lebanon on fire
11 Mar, 2026

Lebanon on fire

WHILE the entire Gulf region has become an active warzone, repercussions of this conflict have spread to the...
Canine crisis
11 Mar, 2026

Canine crisis

KARACHI’S stray dog crisis requires urgent attention. Feral canines can cause serious and lasting physical and...