KARACHI, April 21: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif contacted Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Sindh AD Khawaja via telephone on Thursday and conveyed his condolences to the families of police personnel gunned by terrorists in Karachi.
The army chief “expressed his grief and sorrow with the heirs of martyred police personnel and he also conveyed his condolences to the families”, said a statement from the Karachi police media cell.
During his telephonic call, Gen Raheel Sharif appreciated the Sindh Police, vowing that terrorism would be eliminated from every province of the country and assured that Pakistan Army would support police in every aspect.
On Wednesday evening, seven policemen protecting health workers administering polio drops to children were gunned down in two separate attacks in Karachi’s Orangi Town area.
The attacks took place within a distance of 600 metres of each other, dealing a severe blow to the national campaign to eradicate the crippling disease.
Police official claimed that the killings were carried out by the same group that had earlier targeted four Rangers personnel in Baldia Town and two Military Police personnel on MA Jinnah Road.
All vaccinators remained safe and were immediately moved to safety after the shootings.
The attack marked the latest violence against efforts to eradicate the crippling childhood disease in Pakistan.
Polio, which can cause lifelong paralysis, is now endemic in only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Teams in Pakistan working to immunize children against the virus are often targeted by extremist militants.
At least 89 people – including vaccination workers and policemen – have been killed in such attacks since July 2012, according to a Reuters tally based on United Nations figures and media reports.-Agencies
