WAZIRISTAN: A remote-controlled bomb attack on a police van in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) South Waziristan injured 13 people which included six police personnel and seven civilians, a hospital official told Geo News on Monday.

According to police officials, the bomb exploded on a police van at Kir kot Road in the Wana Rustam Bazar.

The officials added they reached site of the incident as soon as the blast was reported, while rescue teams arrived there to shifted the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital Wana.

One of the critically injured victims of the attack has been shifted to Dera Ismail Khan.

Meanwhile, Medical Superintendent Dr Hamad Mahmood told Geo News the injured brought to the hospital included both civilians and police personnel.

On the other hand, the police sources mentioned the start of the anti-polio campaign in the region from today.

At least two police vehicles were going towards Krikot Road to provide security to the polio workers in the locality, which is when one of the vehicles was targeted in the attack.

The area, the sources added, has been cordoned off and investigation into the tragic incident has begun.

District Health Officer Dr Inayat Rahman told Geo News that the polio campaign has been started across the district today with at least 70,000 children over the age of five are being vaccinated.

According to the DHO, strict security arrangements have been made throughout the district with 480 police personnel deployed for the security of 297 polio teams.

It should be noted that both security personnel and polio workers remain vulnerable to serious risks of attacks in Pakistan, particularly in its religiously conservative northwestern region.

In many conflict regions, security concerns pose serious risks to polio teams. Over the past decade, dozens of polio workers have been attacked, creating an atmosphere of fear among those tasked with protecting the country’s children.

In July this year, two cops on polio duty were injured in separate attacks in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts.