PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government will deploy troops to protect polio workers during a vaccination campaign starting October 5 in Peshawar, Dawn reported October 2.
At a September 30 meeting, Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Akhtar Ali Shah requested the services of the Frontier Constabulary and Frontier Corps.
Ten platoons will be assigned to protect the vaccinators, Shah said. This is the first time that the military will be used to guard those administering polio vaccine.
Achini Bala, Sheikhan, Matani, Sherikera and Jugani – Peshawar's five rural union councils adjacent to Khyber and Mohmand agencies – have previously been inaccessible to polio workers and police, leaving about 800 local children at risk of acquiring the virus.
