A policeman was killed and two others wounded Tuesday by a roadside bomb aimed at polio vaccination workers in Pakistan's restive northwest, officials said. The attack came a day after Islamabad launched a nationwide anti-polio drive, aiming to immunise tens of millions of children in Pakistan - one of only three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the crippling disease remains endemic.

A policeman was killed and two others wounded Tuesday by a roadside bomb aimed at polio vaccination workers in Pakistan's restive northwest, officials said. The attack came a day after Islamabad launched a nationwide anti-polio drive, aiming to immunise tens of millions of children in Pakistan - one of only three countries, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, where the crippling disease remains endemic. Opposition to inoculations grew after the CIA organised a fake vaccination drive to help track down Al-Qaeda's former leader Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. According to Captain Wahid Mehmood, a district police chief, a police van monitoring the polio team was hit on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan. "It was an IED (improvised explosive device) explosion in which one of our policemen got martyred while two others were wounded", Mehmood told reporters. Also Read: Pakistan approaches international community over Kashmir but commits genocide in Balochistan: Baloch leader adaqat Khan, a local police official, confirmed the toll. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Pakistani Taliban and other militants have targeted polio vaccinators in the past. The nationwide polio vaccination campaign aims to vaccinate some 39 million children. Tuesday's attack follows a devastating year in Pakistan's long fight against polio, with at least 17 cases reported in 2020 so far. In 2019, the number of polio cases jumped to 144 from just 12 in 2018. Even as Pakistan has tried to eliminate polio, a new challenge has emerged in the form of a growing global movement against vaccinations. The phenomenon has attracted adherents worldwide, fuelled by medically baseless claims and proliferated on social media resulting in a resurgence of once-eradicated, highly contagious diseases.

Pakistan policeman killed as blast hits polio vaccine team

Is Dr Shakil Afridi the man who actually helped the Americans identify Osama bin Laden or was he the fallguy for somebody else? Is Aafia Siddiqui an Al Qaeda terrorist or the victim of something she never understood? &nbsp;&nbsp;

These questions have come to the fore in Pakistan amid reports that both could be freed — Afridi from his Pakistani prison and Siddiqui from her 86-year prison sentence in the US.&nbsp;

Last week, Dr Shakil Afridi's 30-year prison sentence was commuted by the Pakistani government. &nbsp;

Afridi had been convicted of helping the Americans find bin Laden through a fake polio-eradication campaign in Abbotabad. &nbsp;According to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, Afridi played no such role but was made the scapegoat to ensure the ex-ISI officer who spilled the beans on bin Laden's whereabouts to the Americans got out of the country. &nbsp;

The Americans appear to want to make amends and get Afridi out of prison. Reports have surfaced that he could be exchanged for Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani convicted of Al Qaeda links and jailed for 86 years in a Texas prison. &nbsp;Pakistan has denied the report but there's no doubt Aafia's release would be very popular in Pakistan. &nbsp;By all accounts, she is a mysterious figure.

Aafia Siddiqui is an MIT-trained neuroscientist who was influenced by radical Islamist ideas. &nbsp;

In 2002, she is alleged to have helped Al Qaeda operative Majid enter the US. in 2003, she married the nephew of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. &nbsp;That same year she vanished with her children.

Her family believes she was kidnapped — by whom is left unsaid — flown to Kabul and held in Bagram prison where she was tortured. The Pakistanis have denied any role in her rendition to Afghanistan. So have the Americans. &nbsp;

Her ex-husband says she was on the run because of her Islamist connections, moving between Quetta, Iran and Karachi. Two of her children live with her sister in Karachi but have maintained silence. &nbsp;

International jurists say Aafia's Al Qaeda links do not justify her 86-year sentence. Others say Pakistani intelligence may not want her to return as she could reveal details of their involvement in the US programme of illegal renditions.&nbsp;

Is Aafia a cold-blooded terrorist or somebody who was drawn into the jihadi web without really understanding what she was getting into? &nbsp;The truth may never be known.&nbsp;

Pakistan sentenced Dr Shakil Afridi to 30 years in prison. Then, last week, his sentence was commuted

Is Dr Shakil Afridi the man who actually helped the Americans identify Osama bin Laden or was he the fallguy for somebody else? Is Aafia Siddiqui an Al Qaeda terrorist or the victim of something she never understood? These questions have come to the fore in Pakistan amid reports that both could be freed — Afridi from his Pakistani prison and Siddiqui from her 86-year prison sentence in the US. Last week, Dr Shakil Afridi's 30-year prison sentence was commuted by the Pakistani government. Afridi had been convicted of helping the Americans find bin Laden through a fake polio-eradication campaign in Abbotabad. According to investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, Afridi played no such role but was made the scapegoat to ensure the ex-ISI officer who spilled the beans on bin Laden's whereabouts to the Americans got out of the country. The Americans appear to want to make amends and get Afridi out of prison. Reports have surfaced that he could be exchanged for Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani convicted of Al Qaeda links and jailed for 86 years in a Texas prison. Pakistan has denied the report but there's no doubt Aafia's release would be very popular in Pakistan. By all accounts, she is a mysterious figure. Aafia Siddiqui is an MIT-trained neuroscientist who was influenced by radical Islamist ideas. In 2002, she is alleged to have helped Al Qaeda operative Majid enter the US. in 2003, she married the nephew of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. That same year she vanished with her children. Her family believes she was kidnapped — by whom is left unsaid — flown to Kabul and held in Bagram prison where she was tortured. The Pakistanis have denied any role in her rendition to Afghanistan. So have the Americans. Her ex-husband says she was on the run because of her Islamist connections, moving between Quetta, Iran and Karachi. Two of her children live with her sister in Karachi but have maintained silence. International jurists say Aafia's Al Qaeda links do not justify her 86-year sentence. Others say Pakistani intelligence may not want her to return as she could reveal details of their involvement in the US programme of illegal renditions. Is Aafia a cold-blooded terrorist or somebody who was drawn into the jihadi web without really understanding what she was getting into? The truth may never be known.

Is the US exchanging an Al Qaeda terrorist for the Pakistani doctor who helped them catch Osama?

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Pakistan policeman killed as blast hits polio vaccine team

Is the US exchanging an Al Qaeda terrorist for the Pakistani doctor who helped them catch Osama?