QUETTA: A constable deputed to guard vaccinators during an ongoing four-day anti-polio campaign here was shot dead in Pashtunabad area on Wednesday.

“The policeman, Zainullah, was not on duty when he was killed,” a police officer said.

Two men on a motorcycle shot him in the head when he came out of a mosque near a basic health unit in Ismail Colony.

He died immediately while a passer-by was injured. He was taken to the Civil Hospital.

“No polio worker was hurt in the attack,” police said.

“The anti-polio campaign will continue according to programme,” Dr Ishaq Panizai of the Extended Programme on Immunisation in Balochistan said.

The decision was taken after the situation was reviewed at a meeting presided over by the health secretary.

However, security of the polio workers was increased in Quetta and other areas.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play