A polio validation survey team was attacked in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Tangir district on Monday by armed men allegedly objecting to the presence of female staffers.
The team, deployed in Tangir, was returning after completing a two-day verification exercise for vaccination coverage when it was intercepted near Ric Bridge at approximately 2:45pm.
According to a FIR, two armed individuals blocked the team’s vehicle and hurled verbal threats, accusing them of disturbing the region’s “cultural environment” by bringing “unveiled women from Gilgit”.
Earlier, the first case of wild poliovirus was reported in Diamer. The case, verified by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), is the eleventh confirmed case of wild poliovirus in the country so far in 2025.