Two Police Officers Guarding Polio Teams Shot Dead in Bajaur — TTP Anti-Vaccination Campaign Continues

May 18, 2026 (Day 82 of Operation Ghazab lil-Haq): Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed two police officers assigned to protect anti-polio vaccination teams in separate attacks in Tehsil Salarzai, Bajaur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the first day of Pakistan's nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign. The martyred officers were identified as Constable Syed Aziz and Constable Qadir, who were performing security duties with anti-polio teams in the Tabbai and Dag Qila areas of Salarzai. No polio workers were harmed in either attack. The attackers fled the scene after opening fire; no group claimed responsibility. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi condemned the attacks and stated: 'Targeting officials on national duty is a cowardly act. The terrorists would never succeed in their nefarious designs.' KPK police deployed additional security and launched search operations in the Salarzai area. Context: Anti-polio vaccination drives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — particularly in the Bajaur, South Waziristan, and North Waziristan districts — are routinely targeted by TTP-affiliated militants who propagate anti-vaccination ideology and target the police escorts protecting health workers. Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world (alongside Afghanistan) where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The KPK provincial health ministry noted a similar attack in January 2026 killed four police officers in a single incident. The Bajaur district is already under sustained security pressure following the May 14, 2026 TTP VBIED attack at Meena Scouts Camp that killed 11-15 Pakistani security forces — the latest major attack in a series of five mass-casualty TTP operations in six days (May 9-14) that have pushed Pakistan's security establishment toward a 'decisive action' consensus against TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan. The anti-polio attack represents TTP's parallel asymmetric campaign targeting state services and civil society alongside kinetic attacks on security forces.