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Blast in Pakistan kills five police officers during polio vaccination drive
At least five police officers have been killed and nearly two dozen others wounded after an explosive device targeted their vehicle during a polio vaccination drive in northwestern Pakistan.
Officials told Al Jazeera the blast took place early morning on Monday in Bajaur, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province neighbouring Afghanistan, when Pakistan began its latest round of the vaccination campaign.
Five of those wounded were in critical condition and have been shifted to the provincial capital, Peshawar, about 133km (82 miles) south of Bajaur.
“The blast took place early in the morning when the police team went out for the polio vaccination drive. We have shifted most of the injured to local hospital in Bajaur while critical patients were sent to Peshawar,” Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for the provincial rescue services, told Al Jazeera.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
In recent years, the Pakistan Taliban, also known by the acronym TTP, has killed dozens of polio vaccination workers and security officials in Pakistan.
Resistance to the polio immunisation drive grew in Pakistan after the CIA, the intelligence agency of the United States, organised a fake vaccination drive to track Osama bin Laden, who was killed in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in 2011.
Religious leaders in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region also spread misinformation that the vaccine contained traces of pork and alcohol, which are forbidden in Islam.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries yet to be declared free of the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV-1) disease.
For a country to be recognised “free of polio”, it should show an absence of WPV-1 transmission for at least three consecutive years, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Pakistan reported six polio cases in 2023 – a considerable improvement from 2022 when 20 cases were reported across the country.
The attack on the polio vaccination team came amid a dramatic surge in violent incidents in Pakistan.
According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based research organisation, more than 600 violent attacks took place in the country in 2023, an increase of 70 percent from the preceding year, killing more than 950 people.
(Aljazeera)
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Level III landslide warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale extended
The Level III RED landslide early warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale by the Landslide Early Warning Center of the National Building Research Organisation [NBRO] have been extended until 1600hrs tomorrow [10th December 2025].
Accordingly,
The LEVEL III RED landslide early warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Division and surrounding areas of Panvila, Udapalatha, Minipe, Poojapitiya, Gangawata Korale, Thumpane, Doluwa, Pathadumbara, Ganga Ihala Korale, Harispattuwa, Akurana, Ududumbara, Pathahewaheta, Hatharaliyadda, Yatinuwara, Deltota, Medadumbara, Udunuwara, Kundasale and Pasbage Korale in the Kandy district, Yatiyanthota, Rambukkana, Aranayaka, Warakapola, Galigamuwa, Mawanella and Bulathkohupitiya in the Kegalle district, Mallawapitiya, Rideegama and Mawathagama in the Kurunegala district, and Ukuwela, Pallepola, Rattota, Matale, Laggala Pallegama, Yatawatta, Naula, Ambanganga Korale and Wilgamuwa in the Matale district have been extended.
LEVEL II AMBER landslide early warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Division and surrounding areas of Uva Paranagama, Hali_Ela, Meegahakivula, Badulla, Kandeketiya, Bandarawela, Soranathota, Ella, Haputhale, Lunugala, Welimada, Haldummulla and Passara in the Badulla district, Ruwanwella, Dehiowita, Kegalle and Deraniyagala in the Kegalle district, Alawwa and Polgahawela in the Kurunegala district and Nuwara Eliya, Nildandahinna, Thalawakele, Kothmale West, Mathurata, Ambagamuwa Korale, Hanguranketha, Walapane, Kothmale East and Norwood in the Nuwara Eliya district, and Kahawaththa, Kolonna and Godakawela in the Ratnapura district have also been extended.
LEVEL I YELLOW landslide early warnings issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Mirigama, Divulapitiya and Attanagalla in the Gampaha district, Narammala in the Kurunegala district, and Kiriella, Balangoda, Kuruwita, Openayake, Nivithigala, Kaltota, Pelmadulla, Kalawana, Eheliyagoda, Elapatha, Ayagama, Imbulpe and Ratnapura in the Ratnapura district.
The Ministry of Education has announced that the .postponed subjects of the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination will be conducted from 12 – 20 January 2026,
The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center at 06:00 AM today [09th December] confirms that 635 persons have died due to floods and landslides that took place in the country within the past two weeks. The number of persons that are missing is 192.
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Level III landslide warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Kurunegala and Matale extended
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