UPDATE 2 - Blast targeting polio team kills 7, including 5 school children, in Pakistan

UPDATES WITH POLICE STATEMENT; EDITS THROUGH

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - At least five school children were among the seven people killed in a blast that hit a police van guarding a polio team in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, police said.

The incident, which also injured 17 others, including four policemen, took place in the Mastung district of Balochistan province.

"Terrorists targeted our police van which was guarding a polio team in the Civil Hospital Chowk area," Rahmatullah, a local police officer, told Anadolu over the phone.

He added that members of the vaccination team remained unhurt, however one policeman was killed and four others were injured in the attack.

Expressing displeasure over the incident, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said it was “inhumane.”

“We will avenge the murder of innocent children and people,” the minister said on X, adding: “The monster of terrorism can only be fought together."

This was the second attack this week on the polio team as on Tuesday, at least two policemen were killed when suspected militants attacked the team in the Orakzai district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Later police said, they also killed three suspected militants involved in the attack. One militant was also arrested in injured condition.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the polio virus still exists, as this year Pakistan reported 43 polio cases so far.

There was no immediate word of responsibility for both attacks. However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a consortium of several militant groups in Pakistan, has long been targeting vaccination teams across the country, claiming the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

Meanwhile, the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army also targeted the army and police in the Balochistan province.